“That was actually Daniel Brown’s flyover for the brilliant round that he’s played today.” – Smylie Kaufman on plane from Prestwick Airport that flew over as Daniel Brown (-6, Leader) walked up 18th hole
“I have to think a lot of members of the media are scrambling or even turning their cars around to come back and cover what could be the story of the week. This could be Dan Brown’s week to shine.” – Notah Begay III
“This man had the hot hand from the start. He hit loads of great iron shots and put on a clinic with the putter today.” – Brandel Chamblee on Shane Lowry (-5, 2nd) on Live From the Open
“He’s absolutely gutted. His race is probably run now at this stage. You can’t win The Open or a major on the first day, but you can certainly lose it and he may well have lost it there today.” – Paul McGinley on McIlroy (+7, T-129th)
STAMFORD, Conn. – July 18, 2024 – NBC Sports presented exclusive first-round coverage of the 152nd Open Championship from Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, across USA Network and Peacock, capped by Live From the Open studio coverage on GOLF Channel and Peacock.
Exclusive second-round coverage begins tomorrow at 1:30 a.m. ET on Peacock and continues at 4 a.m. ET on USA Network.
Live From the Open on GOLF Channel and Peacock included Johnson Wagner’s segment from the iconic par-3 “Postage Stamp” 8th hole.
152nd Open Championship – First Round Leaderboard
Player | Total |
Daniel Brown | -6 |
Shane Lowry | -5 |
Justin Thomas | -3 |
Alex Noren* | -2 |
Nicolai Hojgaard* | -2 |
Justin Rose* | -2 |
*7 players T-4 (-2)
Friday-Sunday Coverage Schedule
| Date | Peacock | USA Network | NBC/Peacock |
| Friday, July 18 | *1:30-4 a.m./3-4 p.m. | 4 a.m. – 3 p.m. | |
| Saturday, July 19 | 5-7 a.m. | 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. | |
| Sunday, July 20 | 4-7 a.m. | 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
*coverage will begin shortly before the first scheduled tee time at 1:30 a.m. ET
ON ROYAL TROON AND THE OPEN
Paul McGinley on today’s winds and course setup: “I’m surprised by the scoring on the front nine. It’s not a long nine – I’m surprised that more players are not taking into the breeze and hitting the ball into the wind and finding a few more pins...but I can’t stress enough, this is a much different and much more difficult test than the guys are used to.”
Luke Donald: “The guys are clearly having trouble reading the greens out there.”
McGinley on Royal Troon: ‘It’s a really funny test compared to what the PGA TOUR would be where big hitting is not the determining factor here. It’s the least important statistic in terms of a determining factor, which is a refreshing to see in this modern game of power. It’s about guile, and it’s about strategy and a really good short game.”
Donald on the par-3 “Postage Stamp” 8th hole: “It hasn’t changed in 100 years, and I hope it doesn’t change in the next 100 years.”
Dan Hicks to Donald: “How did you birdie this hole three of four days in 2016?”
Donald: “Just hit it in the middle of the green...no more than 20 feet no matter what (laughs).”
Johnson Wagner on what made the “Postage Stamp” so difficult today: “It was the first shot of the day, including the driving range, that any of the players had hit with a left to right wind all day long.”
Wagner: “If you miss the green, you’re just trying to get the ball up and down to avoid a disaster. Well, we saw plenty of disasters today.”
ON DANIEL BROWN: Leader (-6)
Notah Begay III on Brown: “Many professional golfers have various low points in their career, you’re missing cuts, you’re not making money, you’re spending more than you’re bringing in and you look at other options...sometimes you hang in there long enough and you can get it to go your way.”
Smylie Kaufman on plane that flew over 18 as Brown approached the green: “That was actually Daniel Brown’s flyover for the brilliant round that he’s played today.”
Begay III: “I have to think that a lot of members of the media are scrambling or even turning their cars around to come back and cover what could be the story of the week. This could be Dan Brown’s week to shine.”
Begay III: “He took advantage of the conditions coming home...after missing so many cuts and not playing great golf coming in, you know this game can come up at any moment and bite you. We’ve all been there. He knows he put up a great round, celebrate it for a very brief moment, but I promise he will show up ready to play tomorrow, knowing that he hasn’t been on the greatest streak of golf coming in.”
ON SHANE LOWRY: 2nd (-5)
Brandel Chamblee on Lowry: “This man had the hot hand from the start. He hit loads of great iron shots and put on a clinic with the putter today.”
Chamblee: “We’re being robbed of this kind of golf. Where you actually have to control it off of the tee like Lowry does. Small misses matter – big misses get penalized.”
ON RORY MCILROY: T-129th (+7)
McGinley: “He’s not executing his shots at all. He’s clearly rattled...it’s been a horrible day for McIlroy....it’s another high score from Rory McIlroy at an Open Championship. He is prone to these high numbers.”
McGinley: “He’s absolutely gutted. His race is probably run now at this stage. As they say, you can’t win The Open or a major on the first day, but you can certainly lose it and he may well have lost it there today.”
ON JON RAHM: T-41st (+2)
McGinley: “It’s been a very erratic day for Rahm. He’s been lucky to shoot the score he has at this point.”
ON TIGER WOODS: T-138th (+8)
John Wood on fans taking pictures of Woods and Colin Montgomerie’s recent suggestion that Woods should retire: “They are expecting about 250,000 people through the gates here this week and I can think of about 250,000 people who are glad that he’s not taking Monty’s (Colin Montgomerie’s) advice.”
Donald on Woods’ intermittent play: “It’s the biggest key to some of his less desirable play. So hard to get that consistency, that feel, when you aren’t playing as much. I have found that myself. I’m not playing as much this year, and it’s very difficult to pick up where you left off even three or four weeks ago.”
Wood: “Tiger is noticeably leaner than the last time we saw him at the U.S. Open. I talked to Lance Bennett, his caddie, he said his legs have been feeling so much better. They’ve been able to work out his legs more and he’s taken a lot of that bulk off of the upper half and it’s noticeable.”
--NBC SPORTS--