NOTES AND QUOTES – NBC SPORTS' COVERAGE OF THE 125TH U.S. OPEN (THIRD ROUND)

NBC Sports

15-06-2025

Sunday's Final Round Coverage Begins at 9 a.m. ET on USA Network and Continues on NBC and Peacock at Noon ET
'He answered a lot of questions about himself today – but tomorrow will be the biggest day of his career.' – Dan Hicks on Sam Burns (-4, Leader)
'It really seems like physically and mentally that Adam Scott is in complete control of his game and his mind.' – Smylie Kaufman on Scott (-3, T-2nd)
'If he were to go on to win tomorrow, remember that shot today.' - Terry Gannon on Viktor Hovland's shot from the rough on No. 17 to a few feet
Mini Episodes of the GOLF Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav Post Nightly
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 14, 2025 – NBC Sports presented third round coverage of the 125th U.S. Open from Oakmont Country Club on NBC, Peacock, and USA Network, including on-site post-round coverage on Golf Central Live From the U.S. Open on GOLF Channel.
Sunday's final round coverage begins at 9 a.m. ET on USA Network and continues on NBC and Peacock at noon ET.
Saturday's coverage included a visit to the broadcast booth by 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, who won his first major title at the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont.
125th U.S. Open – Third Round Leaderboard
ON SAM BURNS (-4, Leader)
Hicks: 'He answered a lot of questions about himself today – but tomorrow will be the biggest day of his career.'
Terry Gannon on his par at No. 7: 'That's a U.S. Open par.'
Kisner on his pre-shot routine: 'He does his routine almost every single shot I've ever seen him hit. He's always trying to keep that club face outside of his hands and he checks it with his eyes before he goes back to set and hit his shot. That routine gets him super comfortable with where he's putting the golf club on every swing.'
Brad Faxon on Burns' putting following birdie on No. 13: 'Scottie Scheffler has said that Sam is one of these guys that has good fundamentals, good instincts and he putts very reactionary. That's a good compliment from the best in the world.'
Kisner on Burns' long birdie putt left short from the front of No. 16: 'The guys have been leaving this putt short all day long.'
Jim 'Bones' Mackay: 'It's funny – as the guys were walking up to the green, someone in the crowd was yelling that the guys have been short from the front of this green all day long.'
ON ADAM SCOTT (-3, T-2nd)
Hicks following Scott's birdie on No. 13: 'You get the feeling that Adam Scott is kind of a favorite? That was a heck or a roar.'
Kaufman prior to his birdie on No. 17 to tie for the lead: 'This is a putt you almost expect to make has a player. Just a cup or two out on the right side, but I think that Adam Scott is licking his chops here. It really seems like physically and mentally that Adam Scott is in complete control of his game and his mind.'
ON J.J. SPAUN (-3, T-2nd)
Begay III: 'He's just been really solid in a lot of areas of the game…Really seems to be comfortable with his golf swing, but more important he's been comfortable in the moment.'
Hicks: 'There is confidence in that putter.'
Faxon: 'I think hearing what he said about his experience at the PLAYERS, playing against Rory when he said he was the most nervous he's ever been, particularly in the playoff on Monday morning...I really think that experience is going to help him down the stretch at Oakmont.'
ON VIKTOR HOVLAND (-1, 4th)
Faxon following his missed birdie on No. 7: 'It gets frustrating when you hit good shots and you don't make (the putts), you just have to remind yourself, 'I can keep doing this. I'm going to keep hitting good putts. I have to go through my process.''
Hicks after his birdie on No. 10: 'That's why Hovland says he has been in a good state of mind. Even though you're going to pick up bogeys like he did early in the round, he knows he's hitting well and he doesn't get into panic mode.'
Kisner: 'I love this look in his face. He's just so stoic.'
Smylie Kaufman: 'I talked to his caddie Shay Knight and he said just about every iron he has hit today, there's been a little bit more juice in it. There's been about four or five extra yards that there haven't expecting.'
Terry Gannon on Hovland's shot from the rough on No. 17 to a few feet: 'If he were to go on to win tomorrow, remember that shot today.'
ON TYRRELL HATTON (+1, T-6th)
Kisner: 'He always seems to be around in these majors on the weekend.'
Hicks: 'U.S. Open, Tyrrell Hatton, and Oakmont? Sign me up. Around this place, it could send even Hatton to a whole new level.'
ON SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (+4, T-11th)
Hicks on Scheffler's putting today: 'He just hasn't been able to continue that really good putting streak that he's had by winning three of his last four starts.'
Scheffler to Cara Banks post-round on the mental grind of Oakmont: 'Collin, Viktor and I were laughing in scoring yesterday because there was one instance yesterday where Collin kind of walked through my line because he got flustered by chipping it over the green. Viktor did the same thing on the hole before because he had played a little hockey and then I had messed up some scores on Collin's card so we're sitting there laughing in scoring like, 'What are we doing out there?' Maybe once or twice a year you mess up somebody's score, and I messed up two of Collin's yesterday so it's challenging in a lot of different senses and it's especially challenging when you're not hitting the ball where you're looking, but overall, I still have an outside chance going into tomorrow.'
ON RORY MCILROY (+10, T-49th)
Begay III on Rory McIlroy's performance: 'I give him a little bit of a pass with the career Grand Slam. Now he's just trying to figure out, 'What are my goals now?' For a decade, it was, 'I need to win The Masters.' What does he want his new set of goals to be to make his mark on the game?'
JACK NICKLAUS WITH MIKE TIRICO
Nicklaus to Tirico on winning his first major at the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont: 'I remember playing very well and managing my game. Barbara and I were 22-year-olds at the time. It was fun. Jackie with us was eight months old. It's a lot of things to remember but I remember I played basically 17 weeks in a row coming into the U.S. Open.'
Nicklaus on playing with Arnold Palmer at Oakmont in 1962: 'People have asked me that a thousand times. I never heard the people. I was a 22-year-old kid with blinders on. I had one focus of mine at that's to win a golf tournament…I felt like this was my year and I came in here not realizing, or just dumb enough, to (not) know that there was a guy named Arnold Palmer that lived in western Pennsylvania. But anyway, I played well and Arnie played well. A lot of guys played well that week, we shot one-under par. That was a good score at a U.S. Open. And it still is.'
Nicklaus on the mental approach of playing major events: 'The one thing you have to do is be patient. You know that you can't force things at a U.S. Open. When you force things, that's when you make mistakes, that's when you get killed…I always liked golf courses where par was important. I never liked a golf course where 20-under par was something that you strived for. It then became a putting contest, and you really can't play that way. You have to play a total different mindset on that type of a golf course. But here, Oakmont's a challenge. It's the roughest stuff, the fairways are appropriate width, the greens are usually firm and fast. It's what an Open should be.'
ON OAKMONT
Brandel Chamblee on the 2025 U.S. Open: 'It was kind of sleepy for the first two-and-a-half days or so. It's like the whole championship took a couple of Ambien. Then it was like the girl in Pulp Fiction that got stabbed with the adrenaline – it woke right up.'
Mike Tirico on Oakmont: 'With the set up, it is the way the game is played today and the classic test of golf and where the two intersect. And that's why the leaderboard has some throwbacks there, guys who won majors ten, 12 years ago. It's an interesting mix. It's cool. It's not the same thing week-in, week-out and that's what makes all of it, plus the national championship on the line, so entertaining.'
Kevin Kisner on if Oakmont is the toughest U.S. Open course: 'I'd rate it as the toughest mental test. I think it's relentless, it's exhausting. All day you're on the grind and just over and over again mentally, you just get beat up. I love that the premium here is driving the golf ball in the fairway, and that starts right there at the first…I really love the idea of what the USGA tries to accomplish and that's get every club in the bag dirty. I think that's a cool motto to try to accomplish.'
Notah Begay III on the changing conditions at Oakmont: 'The golf course has changed a little bit with all the moisture that came overnight. The greens are more receptive and the fairways softer…It really favors the players that trap the ball a little bit more.'
Gary Koch on making adjustments mid-tournament: 'So much of golf, at this level, is about knowing how to correct yourself. It's not like other sports where you have a manager or coach.'
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--