ABC/ESPN must be grateful that Tom Watson stepped up this weekend. Imagine if it was only Lee Westwood, Ross Fisher, Matthew Goggin, and Stewart Cink battling it out for the Claret Jug. It might have been a ratings catastrophe.
But with Watson on top for most of the tournament, it was a dream come true for American and European journalists.
Brandel Chamblee was spot on when he said the game of golf gives us good stories, even when Tiger is not in sight.
Major champion and longtime broadcaster Bob Rosburg passed away yesterday. He was 82.
Sal Johnson over at Golf Observer has put together a tremendous tribute to the man many knew as Rossie.
More to come on this development over the weekend, but ESPN.com is reporting that the network will host all four rounds of the British Open starting in 2010.
Thanks to television reporters Judy Rankin and Todd Lewis for doing their research and getting some candid responses from Greg Norman and Richard S Johnson.
Rankin started things off earlier in the day when she told Norman that he had qualified for next year's Masters with a T-4 finish. This was immediately following Norman's statement that he doubted he'd be playing much after the next few tournaments. Norman said:
Oh really? That surprised me, I wasn’t even thinking about anything like that. But that’s good to know.
On the other side of the pond, TGC's Todd Lewis told Richard Johnson after his win at the U.S. Bank Championship that he had qualified for not only the Mercedez Benz next year, but also the PGA Championship. Johnson said:
Am I really? I didn’t know. Wow, that’s awesome.
The quotes don't do justice to their reactions, but they were elated.
