Notes and quotes – Reporting of NBC Sports about the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush (third round)

The last round on Sunday begins at 4 a.m. in the USA network. Continued at 7 a.m. ET on NBC and Peacock

Spectators in the second round in the USA network 37% compared to 2024; The most watched first two rounds since 2022

“I never thought that I would see a player as close as this man in my life. Scottie Scheffler blows me every time I see him play.” -Jim “Bones' Mackay about Scottie Scheffler (-14, Führer)

“(The pursuers) have two problems – he doesn't make mistakes and you can't make any.” -Kevin Kisner about Scheffler's four-stroke lead

“As with Tiger, they try to slow down a 747 with a butterfly network.” – Rich learner about Scheffler

“For everything he did in the game, I gave bet, there wasn't much more entertaining rounds than this for Rory.” -John Wood on Rory McIlroys 5-Unter 66 (-8, T-4)^TH)))

Stamford, Conn. – July 19, 2025 – – NBC Sports presented an exclusive reporting of the third round of the 153^RD Open championship from the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland, via NBC, USA Network and Peacock, ended by Golf Central Live from Open Studio reporting on the golf channel.

The reporting on the final round on Sunday starts tomorrow at 4 a.m. ET in the US network and lasts ET on NBC and Peacock at 7 a.m.

Reporting on the second round of the NBC Sports about the 153^RD Open in USA Network and NBC Sports Digital (8-3: 33 PM ET) produced a total deletion of the audience (TAD) of 1.2 million average spectators, 37% compared to 2024, to designate the most well-observed second round since the 150^TH Open at St. Andrews, based on Nielsen Fast National Data with projected full -back. The audience reached a high point in 3-3:15 p.m. quarter of an hour with more than 1.6 million viewers. Overall, early reporting in the USA and the digital platforms of NBC Sports Digital/Friday had more than 1 million spectators on average and have been the most watched rounds since 2022. Peacock's second round (1: 30-4pm et) recorded similar profits, by 29% compared to the comparable window in 2024.

153^RD Open championship – round of the third round

On Scottie Scheffler (-15, guide)

Jim “Bones” Mackay: “After watching Tiger in his heyday – and I think Tiger is the biggest player I have ever seen – I never thought in my life that I would see a player who is tiger as close as this man.

Paul McGinley on Scheffler's round: “It is the Scottie Scheffler show, is it? I will say that it is definitely over, but the boy, the boy, looks threatening, especially when he does as good as he does.”

Brandel Chamblee: “I was lucky enough to play in the Tiger era, and I was lucky enough to sit up here and talk about it and play Tiger, and now you can play Scottie Scheffler at a level that has rarely risen in the history of the golf.

McGinley about Scheffler at Royal Portrush: “You have to move the ball around this golf course. It is a real shot maker course and we see one of the biggest shot manufacturers in the history of the game today. Some of the pictures he played today were absolutely excellent.”

Dan Hicks: “He won't do it in the most spectacular form, but Scottie Scheffler plays at a level every week that we are simply not used to.”

McGinley: “Left Golf really gave him the chance to present his talent, the expression of moving the ball around the golf course, and we see a lot of it today.”

Kevin Kisner on Scheffler in the last round with the 54-hole lead into the last round: “Just not the type you want to hunt. He meets quality shots quality. He just doesn't make enough mistakes … (the persecution hunters) have two problems – he does not make any mistakes and you cannot make any.”

Hicks: “The inevitable. And there are only a few athletes in every sport in the years that could produce this kind of feeling. Scheffler is the latest.”

Rich learner in the field, the Scheffler pursues: “As with Tiger, they try to slow down a 747 with a butterfly network.”

Banger: “These two par putts on 11 and 14 are as big as each of the birdies.”

Terry Gannon: “You observe a man who has control over every facet of his game, and for the rest of the field who tries to hunt and do a run … but you are watching and it is this name on the top of the ranking.”

Hicks on his ups and downs from the thick greenside on No. 11: “His best par -rescue of the week and one of the best we have ever seen.”

Gannon on Scheffler's pulled approach shot on number 11 in the Greenside Rau: “Where did that come from?”

Brad Faxon: “I didn't hit him this week.

Gannon on Scheffler's par-savings putt at 11: “What can the man not do?”

Faxon: “He is not a person. The worst iron absorption he had this week … that (putt) comes 15 feet from the inside. This is the part of his game, which is demoralized with his coup and demoralized.”

On Rory McIlroy (-8, T-5^TH)))

Hicks via Mcilroys 48-foot eagle putt to 12: “We said he wanted to develop his round again and he only lit the fuse.”

Mackay to the reaction of the crowd to Mcilroys Eagle Putt: “We may be a mile from McIlroy at this time, but we heard that it was next door. It was something to see where we are.”

John Wood: “For everything he did in the game, I gave bet, there wasn't much more entertaining rounds than this for Rory.”

Mike Tirico about the crowd at 18^TH Loch observes Mcilroy: “This is my 27^TH Sit open on 18^TH Hole, and that feels like Sunday with tigers or others. We watch people for an hour to get every hill, every hump, every bump, just to be able to get through Rory. Both sides of the fairway must be a scene from the fairway. It is really one of these special moments in a championship that has over a century and a half of history. Rory back home brought a wonderful scene with her, and it can even be better tomorrow. “

Tico about fans in Northern Ireland: “You will probably scream his name here 10,000 times today – and that is not an exaggeration.”

Hicks: “Three birdies in the first four holes hit this crowd insane. Every shot, every step – Serenaded. These Roars echoed for portrush.”

Tirico on Mcilroys Birdie on No. 1: “Good morning, let's go! An ideal start for Mcilroy.”

Curt Byrum on his birdie on No. 1: “Let's be right – let this amount upgrade, exactly what you wanted to see … and Jordan Smith has a lot to do with it, he gave him a great reading.”

Wood on Mcilroy's driver: “I have the feeling that this club is the key to his day today. He didn't do it great this week. If he can get the driver up and running today.”

On Matt Fitzpatrick (-9, 3^RD)))

Hicks on Fitzpatrick's third round: “They grind like Fitzpatrick all day. They approach Scheffler, they feel like they close the ground, and then they only lose a little bit. And then they are simply going.”

Chamblee: “After seeing Fitz in the past few days, there may be many people who go to the golf course tomorrow to try this intersection to try this intersection.”

On Royal Portrush

Banger: “Only a true jewel here at Portrush and it shows the best players in the world who play the best golf here at this event location.”

Hicks: “You hear it overused, right? 'You have to use every shot in your pocket.' We hear that almost regularly in the large golf courses, but it is no longer true.

-Nbc sports–