Oakmont preview, TV: NBC to have over 300 hours of coverage

On June 12, the best golfers in the world will gather in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, to tee it up for the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. Oakmont is a beast of a golf course. It is not just challenging; with a 5-inch-thick, rough, it is daunting even to the best of the best.

Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world and an obvious favorite to win coming off his Masters victory earlier this spring.

“He’s the best player that I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. I, of course, have watched Tiger on TV as a kid growing up… I think the best comparison that I can make with him, and Tiger Woods is that Scottie does an incredible job of doing is that on his bad days, he shoots 70. And Tiger Woods used to do the same thing… how many times have you seen Rory McIlroy or Xander Schauffele or Justin Thomas shoot rounds of 76 or higher on major championship Thursday rounds and suddenly, they’re out of it,” said Smiley Kaufman of the world’s No. 1 player.

Defending Champion Bryson DeChambeau is a game-changer in every way possible. Not only is he the biggest hitter in the game, but he has also figured out his short game over the last few weeks. That makes (arguably) the most popular player in the game very dangerous.

“He’s done a heck of a job using social media channels to connect with viewers, connect with golfers, and show his true personality because I think he probably didn’t do a great job of that early on in his career. I think the transformation is amazing. I commend him for realizing that he needed to probably change that. And a lot of guys don’t take the time or the effort to do it,” said Kevin Kisner, who will be covering the event for NBC.

He brings in ratings and is the only LIV player who has had success on the PGA Tour as of late. NBC will broadcast 300 hours of coverage, including:

• Broadcast
• Featured groups
• Studio coverage

The Golf Channel begins its On-Site Studio coverage at 1 p.m., followed by Golf Central Live from the U.S. Open at 3 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET. More coverage will be found on Peacock, including “multi view” U.S. Open All Access, featured groups coverage, and week-long Golf Central Live From coverage on GOLF Channel. Sunday’s final round coverage will feature The Rolex Hour – Uninterrupted Coverage on NBC, in partnership with Rolex, for the final hour of golf on NBC and Peacock as a champion is crowned at Oakmont.

Oakmont will be one of the most challenging tracks the boys of the PGA will face, not only in a major but anytime.

“I think it’s No. 1. I think it’s exactly what the USGA is trying to capture in hosting a U.S. Open,” says Kisner. “I think it’s a perfect venue that will have a lot of different opportunities for guys to compete… there are a lot of different ways to play Oakmont, and I think you’ll see a lot of variety of games near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.”

Kaufman agrees.

“I was on the range yesterday hitting a couple of balls late in the evening,” said Kaufman. “This gentleman came up to me and said how excited he was for the U.S. Open, and he said the reason why was that ‘I love watching these players suffer.’ And I laughed. I said, ‘I guess, me too now that I’m on the broadcast.’ But based on some of the reports I’ve heard, it sounds like it’s going to be crazy, crazy hard. I heard that Adam Scott hit every fairway on his opening nine (of a practice round) and shot 3-over.”

The best players in the world are facing America’s greatest golf challenge. That is what makes a major.