The Golf Watch

2009 Bay Hill highlights a welcome addition to rainy telecast

Whenever I see 'recorded earlier' on the upper left hand side of the television screen, I, like many, am always tempted to open up the laptop and check out the live tournament leaderboard.  Sometimes, to keep my interest level up, I'll leave the laptop closed.

But with the Capitals and NCAA tournament on other networks yesterday during the final round of the Bay Hill Invitational, I couldn't mess around. 

After checking PGATour.com and realizing that play had been postponed for quite some time (Els with a 2-stroke lead), I left NBC's telecast. 

Out of curiosity, I turned back an hour later, and found Sean O'Hair and Tiger Woods on the 16th hole preparing for their approach shots. NBC executives made the decision to air 2009 highlights from Bay Hill.

Seeing Tiger on a network telecast--even if it was recorded a year ago--was exciting and eerie.  Here's an individual who had a lot to prove coming off of knee surgery, but was struggling in more ways than the audience could ever know. 

Personal life aside, I consider last year's tournament to be one of the great final rounds in PGA Tour history.  I always found Sean O'Hair's candid conversations with his caddie to be revealing. 

It made for an incredible prime time finish--a welcome addition to yesterday's rained out telecast.

NBC television crew earned their paychecks

A lot was said today about how difficult the rain delays were on the players at Bethpage Black.

But how about the NBC crew?  They have worked their tails off the last two days, and will do more of the same tomorrow. 

Most sporting events last three or four hours and the announcers get some form of an intermission. Other than a brief break between rounds three and four where NBC chose to show highlights from last year's Open at Torrey Pines, Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller and the rest of the crew were in the zone for eight hours. 

I thought their coverage, especially leading up to the third round, was very informative.  We saw a lot of golf and didn't have to deal with too much in the way of fluff with hokey Jimmy Roberts features.

Something I found remarkable was Mark Rolfing's appearance on The Golf Channel after network coverage ended (pictured below).  Rolfing called the action on the course for eight hours and then made his way to The Golf Channel set where he provided more analysis.

The on-air and production crews deserve a tip of the cap after a couple of marathon days.

Johnny Miller and Tiger's biceps

Remember last year's US Open when Johnny Miller talked about Tiger Woods' physique?  Well, there was more of the same during The Players Championship...

Miller: There are some people out there wondering if his biceps are getting too big.  I'm telling you...seriously, we're not trying to see how much we can bench press when you play golf.  It's a wonder because nobody has ever played with biceps like that on Tour.

Maltbie: This now his 4th shot from 180.  Wind a little left to right...

Funny how Roger Maltbie didn't even address Miller's comment. 

Did anyone else have a stretched Players Championship?

I'm not sure if it was just in our local television market, but was the visual appearance of anyone else's Players Championship on NBC less than satisfactory?

Don’t expect Johnny Miller to buy John Senden an Arnold Palmer anytime soon

John Senden was grouped with Paul Casey and Geoff Ogilvy for the final round of the Shell Houston Open.  As you know, Casey went on to win the tournament, but it was no easy task. 

On the 18th hole, Senden was at 4-under-par, seven strokes off the clubhouse lead held by J.B. Holmes.  Senden drove his ball into the right fairway bunker, while Casey was in the middle of the fairway. 

Senden was first to play and it was clear that he was looking over his shot very closely, taking a number of practice swings before stepping up to his ball.  Johnny Miller chimed in:

You know what, when I’m playing with a guy that had a chance to win, especially his first event, I’m telling you what, I would have hit this ball already probably five times, just getting out of his way.  Just as etiquette…

Senden hit his second shot to the right of the gallery and Casey hit his second shot into the greenside bunker.  As Senden stepped up to his third shot, Miller said:

Come on John, hit, let’s get out of the way here.

Now this is where Miller went too far.  Here's a guy who is looking to make a living just like anyone else on Tour, and is playing one of the toughest holes on Tour.  Even if he was taking a little extra time, he had two incredibly difficult shots ahead of him. 

As a former Tour player, Miller has to exhibit better judgment in his commentary before jumping all over a golfer. 

Bay Hill ratings up

Even with two NCAA tournament games on rival network CBS, the Bay Hill Invitational on NBC drew a 4.9 overnight rating with a 10 share, the highest rating of any golf tournament since Tiger Woods' miraculous triumph at last year's US Open.

That's right--it even beat out Padraig Harrington's wins at the British Open and PGA Championship.

The Jimmy Roberts-Tiger Woods interview

Mike Purkey wrote in the March 9 edition of Golf World that NBC's Jimmy Roberts "is the best interviewer in the business."  This was in reference to an interview Roberts conducted with Geoff Ogilvy at the Accenture Match Play.

As many of you already know, I'm not a fan of Roberts' interviewing techniques (as evidenced here and here.)  I've noticed from e-mails and other clippings that other golf fans have expressed similar sentiments (to get an idea, check out the comments from SI's most recent round table discussion.)

Much has been made of Roberts interview with Tiger Woods yesterday at Doral.  Although Roberts didn't make any serious errors, he began the interview on a sour note.  Rather than asking about Tiger's round, Roberts said:

Give us some kind of an indication of where you are on the frustration meter right now.

This is Tiger's second tournament back.  He finished at 11-under.  He improved his scoring after every round.  Frustration meter?

Steve Williams a commentator for NBC down under

I know we have all seen Tiger Woods' caddie, Steve Williams, expressing his anger with a number of photographers.  But maybe he has more respect for the media after all.

Three weeks after the tournament actually took place, NBC televised the Kiwi Challenge in Williams' native New Zealand.  NBC assigned Williams to be an on course reporter--and his commentary was stellar.  He seemed comfortable as a reporter, giving yardages and insights - allowing us to get inside the head of the man who provides those same numbers to Tiger every week.

Unfortunately, NBC didn't let him do too much talking.  After the match, he was only able to get in one question to runner-up Anthony Kim.

If Tiger would oblige, I wouldn't mind seeing more Stevie commentary on network television. 

NBC emphasizes hardware

Looks like the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship trophies took center stage on Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller's NBC abode.  Literally.

"I certainly wouldn't have gone with J.B. Holmes"

NBC analyst Johnny Miller said the following about Paul Azinger's captains picks...

His picks, if you ask me, were okay...

I certainly wouldn't have gone with J.B. Holmes, I tell you that.

I surely would have put Zach Johnson ahead of Holmes and Campbell.

I guess we'll see at week's end...