“He has got big, big game. More than his physical skills, I’ve been impressed with his demeanor.” – Roger Maltbie on Ludvig Åberg (-5, Leader)
“With all of his science, you can put that aside…He was a wizard on the greens today.” – Brandel Chamblee on Bryson DeChambeau (-4, T-2nd)
“It’s a bona fide struggle. He’s rusty and he’s missing shots we’ve typically seen him dominate and control.” – Notah Begay III on Tiger Woods (+7, Missed Cut)
NBC Sports’ First Round Coverage Delivers Peaco*ck’s Most-Streamed Golf Telecast On Record and Viewership Gains on USA Network
Saturday’s Third Round Coverage Begins at 10 a.m. ET on USA Network, Continues at Noon ET on NBC and Peaco*ck
Mini Episodes of the GOLF Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav Post Nightly
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 14, 2024 – NBC Sports presented second round coverage of the 124th U.S. Open from Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 2) on NBC and Peaco*ck, including on-site pre- and post-round coverage on Golf Central Live From the U.S. Open on GOLF Channel and Peaco*ck. Golf Central Live From included a Johnson Wagner demonstration around the green of the par-five fifth hole.
Today’s coverage on NBC and Peaco*ck featured the critically-acclaimed Fridays with Smylie “Happy Hour” hosted by Smylie Kaufman alongside the par-3 15th hole, as Kaufman hosted Bryson DeChambeau and Sepp Straka.
Saturday’s third round coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET on USA Network and continues at 12 p.m. ET on NBC and Peaco*ck.
Thursday’s first round coverage delivered viewership gains and records on USA Network and Peaco*ck:
- Peaco*ck’s exclusive first round coverage (5-8 p.m. ET) on Thursday delivered NBC Sports’ most-streamed golf telecast on record;
- Peaco*ck’s first round viewership was up 52% vs. last year;
- USA Network’s first round viewership was up 30% for comparable coverage vs. 2022 (last east coast U.S. Open).
U.S. Open – Second Round Leaderboard
Player | Total |
Ludvig Aberg | -5 |
Bryson DeChambeau | -4 |
Patrick Cantlay | -4 |
Thomas Detry | -4 |
Rory McIlroy | -3 |
Tony Finau | -3 |
Matthieu Pavon | -3 |
ON THE LEADERBOARD
Paul McGinley on Live From on the number of Europeans on the leaderboard after the second round: “We have a lot of golf courses not too dissimilar to this over in Europe, and it’s not just Britain and Ireland. You go up to the north of Europe with Holland and Belgium and those kind of places, and even down in France we’ve got some courses that are quite fiery and green complexes that are not amazingly dissimilar to this. We’re feeling kind of at home here.”
Paige Mackenzie on Live From: “What’s amazing is that the American style of golf of bombers off the tee seems to dominate the leaderboard, but so much of this golf course is strategy and I feel like today we really had a chance to see how important strategy is around Pinehurst.”
ON LUDVIG ÅBERG (-5, Leader)
Roger Maltbie: “He has got big, big game. More than his physical skills, I’ve been impressed with his demeanor – very calm and at ease in this situation…A very complete player. I am so impressed with him.”
Brandel Chamblee on Aberg hitting fairways and greens: “When you hit it as good as he does, you think, ‘The only person that’s going to beat me is myself. If I keep hitting my spots around the fairway and on the green, I’m going to let others make mistakes.’”
Dan Hicks: “Mr. Fairway Finder, Aberg. Not just a fairway finder, but he finds them and they’re long and they’re deep.”
McGinley: “Every single part of this guy’s game is good, every single part…It’s a combination of the right decision, but also the execution and I think he’s excelling in both quite clearly.”
Mackenzie: “He kept putting himself in the correct positions on the green…for Aberg, that was the theme of the day…Incredible and consistent throughout the day. It was the precision, not only in the strategy, but the iron play to be able to hit those targets and the distance control to be continuing to put the ball below the hole.”
ON BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (-4, T-2nd)
Chamblee: “With all of his science, you can put that aside – he is hitting it nine miles up in the air, and he has solved the riddle on these greens. He was a wizard on the greens today.”
DeChambeau to reporter Kira K. Dixon on his second round: “I was proud of the way I putted today. I putted stellar and if I can do that for next couple of days, I can give myself a great shot because out here it’s all wedge game and putting.”
Mackenzie: “What stands out to a lot of people is of course the driving and the putting was excellent, but what stood out to me was a little more nuanced -- it was some of the creativity that I saw from him. Known more as the linear mind and scientific, we saw a lot of different, creative shots.”
McGinley on if DeChambeau is one of the five best players in the world right now: “I would think so, absolutely. He’s got all the skillset…His short game is sensational, it really is. I know the stats don’t reveal that it is, but just look at him putting…He’s the full package.”
ON PATRICK CANTLAY (-4, T-2nd)
Hicks: “What a ride this Friday has been after yesterday’s smooth-sailing 65…After playing incredible golf yesterday, he’s feeling the effects of No. 2. Everybody goes through a stretch, and you’re going to get your challenges here.”
Brad Faxon: “He has that title of being the best current player not to win a major championship. It’s great to see him right in the mix.”
Chamblee on Cantlay’s putting: “I just love his stroke. He’s got this really long stroke, no hint of acceleration to it. He just lets the putter head fall onto the ball ala Ben Crenshaw, who had some of the best touch in the history of the game.”
McGinley: “This guy has proved that he’s got all it takes to win major championships, and yet his performance at major championships has been moderate for the quality of player he is…Today his putting bailed him out from making two or three calamities that could’ve taken him out of the championship.”
ON RORY MCILROY (-3, T-5th)
McGinley: “I think he’s in really good shape. All parts of his game seem to be pretty solid. Yes, he’s hitting the odd bad shot as everybody else is, but he seems to be in a good headspace. He seems to have a focus about him.”
ON SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (+5, T-57th)
Notah Begay III: “The iron game has been pretty solid, he just hasn’t been converting any of those birdie looks and it is starting to wear on him.”
Steve Sands on struggles out of the native area to the left No. 5 green leading to double bogey: “I’m sure everybody at home is watching this going, ‘I’ve seen this before in my own game.’”
Chamblee: “If I had done Live From on Wednesday night, I’d have gotten grief for picking Scottie Scheffler. I would have lost a lot of money. The whole world would have picked him.”
ON TIGER WOODS (+7, MC)
Begay III: “I think the reality of the situation – given the context of the injuries and the state of the game – we’re getting a lot closer to the end (of Woods’ U.S. Open career) than we are the beginning...it’s a bona fide struggle. He’s rusty, he’s missing shots we’ve typically seen him dominate and control. I think he is getting better at some aspects of the game, but just not enough repetition.”
Dan Hicks on Woods missing the cut: “He’s not exactly used to this kind of position…It has been obviously a much different Tiger Woods in a battle against the injuries. If he could just somehow magically float round the golf course, he’d be making a lot of those cuts you might presume.”
ON FRANCESCO MOLINARI (+5, T-57th)
Tirico on Molinari’s hole in one on his final hole at No. 9 to make the cut: “Unbelievable! Pushes up to five-over with an ace. If in fact that gets him in, that is one of the great cuts made in history…and an all-time ‘drinks are on me during happy hour.’”
FRIDAYS WITH SMYLIE “HAPPY HOUR” ALONGSIDE THE PAR-3 15TH HOLE
DeChambeau to Kaufman on his approach to playing Course No. 2: “A lot of it’s just hitting and hoping. I’m kidding (laughs). For me, it’s really trying to chip it up into the slopes and let it run out next to the hole. There are some locations where you putt it, but for the most part you have to have a great wedge game. You have to be able to chip around the greens really well and just control your speed everywhere around this place…You’ve got to be a magician with the wedge.”
DeChambeau on what 1999 U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart means to him: “I was about six years old at the time, he left a pretty big mark in my brain and ultimately, on my career, obviously wearing the cap…Actually have his hat on my bag this week just in remembrance of him…It’s a special reminder of what he means to the game.”
Kaufman to Straka on his hole in one today on No. 9: “I think Sepp Straka owes me a drink and plenty of other people that are out here spectating the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. But this guy only drinks diet co*kes, right?”
Straka to Kaufman: “I’ll have a few beverages too (laughs). I’ve had a lot of people asking for their beers.”
GOLF CHANNEL PODCAST WITH REX & LAV
As part of NBC Sports’ comprehensive U.S. Open coverage, new daily episodes of the GOLF Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav, hosted by GOLFChannel.com senior writers Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner, will post nightly. The podcast sees the two longtime scribes discuss and debate the latest news and hottest topics in the sport, and this week’s daily mini-pods will recap each round of the U.S. Open, discuss the major storylines from the championship, and look ahead to the following day’s play.
Click here to listen to the latest episode on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
--NBC SPORTS—
