The Golf Watch

Peter Kostis should not be reporting in the same group as Paul Casey

Sports journalists, just like any other journalists, have to live up to the highest standards.  They have to be informative and honest with their reporting.  CBS' decision to let on-course reporter Peter Kostis provide commentary in the Ian Poulter-Paul Casey match was a mistake.

Casey's longtime instructor is Kostis, and regardless of his professionalism, he has rooting interests. 

If Novak Djokovic plays in the US Open final, would you want his coach in the booth providing commentary?  If Michael Phelps is racing, would you want coach Bob Bowman in the booth as the race unfolds?

Because of the conflict of interest during the telecast, I was suspicious of the commentary I was getting. 

It is unlikely Kostis is going to be in the situation again where he is placed in the same group as his student.  But CBS needs to be more careful in placing commentators for broadcasts.

CBS theme composed by Yanni?

We have come to know CBS' golf theme pretty well by now.

It sounds sort of new age meets poor production meets they need a new theme.

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Little did I know that it was composed by Yanni.  Really, Yanni?

If we're going for less serious and more fun, can't we get ABC's Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Jumpin' Jack circa 2000 back in the rotation?

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What went wrong with CBS' PGA Championship telecast

Non-stop commercials. Calling routine shots "career shots."  Cialis and Flomax.  Teasing Michael Vick on 60 minutes.  Treating the PGA Championship almost like the Buick Open.  That's what was wrong.

For a network with such a talented production crew and one of the best voices in sports, it's a shame CBS couldn't put out a better product for the PGA Championship.  At times, viewers would only get to see three to five shots at a time before another set of commercials.  It was hard to get into a rhythm with the final round because of how off the pacing was.

When Padraig Harrington dropped out, CBS only showed two other golfers.  Henrik Stenson was 3 shots back for the next 2 hours, and we barely even got a glimpse of his round. 

The coverage of the Masters (practically commercial-free), US Open, British Open and even Players Championship excels not for who is behind the mic., but for what they show....golf. 

Glory's last shot?  It's a shame.  It felt like just another Tour stop. 

Jim Nantz sends Finchem's charitable message home

We all know the PGA Tour wants to start sending the message home that tournament sponsors are charitable.  Well, rather than just having commercials to promote the charitable giving and a 30 sec. interview greenside with a company official before the tournament ends, why not have the lead broadcaster interview the tournament sponsor's CEO in the tower?  That's what happened during yesterday's telecast at the Valero Texas Open.

CBS' Jim Nantz took the time to spotlight some of Valero's charitable contributions, and this was most likely a direct result of the PGA Tour's "charitable giving publicity" initiative.  Here's part of what Jim Nantz said to Valero CEO Rich Marcogliese during yesterday's telecast:

I hope everybody grasped that right there.  What you've done for local charities, going back to last October, it amounts to something in the neighboard of almost $17M for local charities.  That's just pretty remarkable...Again, I salute it.  Unfortuntely, this message doesn't always seem to resonate with people, that's why I'm going to keep repeating it.  The charity side of these tournaments and being involved in it as Valero has, that is something that I think is very special and I commend you and your team. 

Note: Sponsors have spoken with broadcasters like Nantz in the booth before, but the timing of this was noteworthy. 

The Woods and Feherty 'loser' exchange

After Tiger Woods finished his final round at Quail Hollow, he had this hilarious interview with David Feherty:

Feherty:  How does a week like this make you feel?  For Bubba, he had a really good chance to win.  But he’s going to feel like he had a really good week this week.  Do you feel like a loser?

Woods: Well, I did.  I was.  I wasn’t even first loser either.

Feherty:  Well, there you go.  It’s difficult to think of you as a loser.  But hey, you’re a loser.  And good luck next week.

Woods: (laughing) Well, thank you very much, I appreciate it.

(both pat each other on the back chuckling)

Only David Feherty could have pulled that one off without it coming off as offensive.

UPDATE:

Play suspended at Pebble, CBS keeps telecast mildly entertaining

Staggering winds and an onslaught of rain forced the PGA Tour to postpone the final round at Pebble Beach until Monday. 

It's always a tough break for the title sponsor when play is cancelled on Sunday, but at least CBS held up their end of the bargain by throwing in some entertaining antics from Gary McCord and Ian Baker-Finch who duked it out in the gusting winds. 

Evidently, the tournament directors allowed the two personalities to play 7, 8 and 9 on television...and entertaining it was.  Watching both players struggle under the conditions, getting thrown around by the wind and hearing Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo laugh in the background made for some great television. 

Watching McCord fly the par-3 7th green with his driver and having both players talk about it afterward in the clubhouse was reason enough for me to watch.  I would have watched them play all 18 holes, but CBS decided that 2007 Pebble Beach highlights took precedence. 

PGA overnight ratings drop

Big surprise--without Tiger Woods, the PGA Championship's overnight ratings for Sunday dropped 55% to a 3.0, according to Dick Friedman of golf.com...

Cratering. Devastation. Decimation. Those are a few of the kinder terms to characterize the decline in the PGA Tour's most conspicuous indicators since Tiger Woods underwent season-ending knee surgery just a few days after his epic U.S. Open win in June. In the immediate wake of The Tiger Show at Torrey Pines, the Tour was riding a crest: Its prime-time rating and audience share for NBC's final-round telecast that Sunday (10.0/20) had been even higher than the figures for the competing NBA Finals Game 5 on ABC (9.0/16).

Since then, however, golf's TV ratings have fallen into the abyss. Despite Padraig Harrington's thrilling victory on Sunday at Oakland Hills, the overnight rating for the PGA Championship was 3.0, down 55% from last year's final round at Southern Hills — an event won by (surely you recall) Woods.

AT&T National ratings drop

As expected, Thomas Bonk of the LA Times reports that the ratings for the Tiger-less AT&T National went down signifciantly...

In a word: bad. The overnight ratings for Sunday's fourth round of the AT&T National on CBS were down 48%, from a 2.9 to a 1.5. The third-round overnight ratings were down 35%, from a 2.0 to a 1.3.

As for the LPGA...

...overnight ratings on CBS for the weekend's LPGA event, the P&G Beauty Northwest Arkansas Championship, barely registered. Saturday's rating was an 0.7 and Sunday's was an 0.6.

Nantz's father passes away at 79, Lundquist holds the fort

Jim Nantz's father, also named Jim, died Saturday night at the age of 79.  He had suffered from Alzheimers.

Verne Lundquist took Nantz's place in the 18th tower this weekend with Nick Faldo.  No word as to when Nantz will be back in action.

Memorial ratings down 31%

Thomas Bonk of the LA Times reports that CBS struggled in the ratings department on Sunday at The Memorial.  The network drew a 1.8 rating, down 31% from last year's 2.6. 

This is puzzling to me.  Rod Pampling was the third round leader last year, and Matthew Goggin led after three days this year (both led by three strokes heading into day 4).  Was last year that much more appealing?