MLB Takes Priority! Fox Sends U.S. Open Coverage Back To FS1

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After an incredibly taxing and downright heroic 11.5 hours straight of bonus-infused coverage on Fox Sports 1 and Fox, the network sent the final 49 minutes of third round coverage back to its less-visible cable channel.

The conflict?

The network's Major League Baseball game of the week pre-game show prior to featuring Cubs-Pirates in much of the country. In the New York market, it was the Mets vs. the lowly Braves.

Given that golf fans are used to majors staying on network TV through the completion of play, the Twitter outrage over the Fox network broadcast of a major championship shifting to a network seen in fewer homes was swift and directed at the USGA.

 

 

 

 

Fox Sports Adjusts, Televising 13 Hours Friday From Oakmont

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Pray for a restful night's sleep for those Fox crews, they have a ridiculously long day Friday thanks to the rain delays.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE
 
Date                 Program                                               Time (ET)                     Network
June 17             First & Second Rounds                         8:00 AM - 5:00 PM         FS1
                                                                                    5:00 PM - 9:00 PM         FOX
                                                                                                                                                          
DIGITAL STREAMING SCHEDULE
 
Date              Channel                           Time (ET)                         Platform
June 17          Featured Holes               8:00 AM – 10:00 AM         USOpen.com
                     Featured Groups (Ch. A)         8:00 AM – 10:00 AM  USOpen.com  
                     Featured Groups (Ch. B)         8:00 AM – 10:00 AM  USOpen.com
                     FS1 stream                       8:00 AM – 5:00 PM         FOX Sports GO        
                     Featured Groups (Ch. A)         10:00 AM – 8:00 PM   FOX Sports GO
                     Featured Groups (Ch. B)         10:00 AM – 8:00 PM   FOX Sports GO
                     Featured Holes               10:00 AM – 8:00 PM         FOX Sports GO
                     FOX stream                      5:00 PM – 9:00 PM         FOX Sports GO

Oakmont 2016: Giving Larry Nelson His Due

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Dave Kindred tries to find any sign of former Ryder Cup captain Larry Nelson or any recognition of his epic 1983 win here at Oakmont.

He writes:

Anybody seen Larry Nelson? The greatest golfer who ever walked the point of his infantry company in a Vietnam jungle – and the only one who ever won three major professional championships, including the 1983 U.S. Open here – is also the greatest golfer no one knows. Figuring he might be on the grounds as a past champion, I asked a media official, “Do you know, is Larry Nelson on the grounds?”

Here a cloud of puzzlement moved across the official’s eyes.

Then he said, “Who does he work for?”

Tale Of Two Oakmont Approaches: Rickie Bombing, Rory Plodding

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I'm not sure what this means about the golf course, but it's interesting to see the different approaches to Oakmont for the 2016 U.S. Open.

Rickie...first saying you have to play carefully, then saying he will be aggressive with the big stick.

Q. So you see taking a risk off the tee as being worthwhile, ultimately?

RICKIE FOWLER: To a certain extent. You can't try and be very aggressive on this golf course. You kind of have to take what it gives you. You can't try and push it too much. There's some holes where it's just as wide with driver as it is with a driving iron or a 3 wood, and I feel like I hit my driver just about as straight as any of those.

So I'd rather take my chances of having the shorter iron in and having a chance to possibly play aggressive and get a shot close, versus just trying to get one on the green.

Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, plans to hit very few drivers this week.

I don't think there's going to be many drivers out there this week. Maybe the two par 5s you'll hit driver. 7th hole. I think, if the 2nd hole is downwind, you can hit driver there and try to hit it up on the green. But, yeah, I don't think there's going to be many drivers this week, to be fair. I'll hit 2 iron off the tee much more than I'll hit driver.

Ernie On Oakmont's Rough: "I don't know what kind of chemicals they put in that grass, but it's growing."

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Ernie Els, 1994 U.S. Open Champion at Oakmont, on what's changed in 22 years:

It's crazy. I don't know how many of you guys were here in '94. Oh, there you go. A couple. But it's amazing how we played the game in those days and how we play today with the golf ball, and a lot of us were still using wooden drivers back in '94 and so forth. And it's amazing how the golf course has also changed. You could definitely move the ball out of the rough on to a lot of these greens. Nowadays, you can't really do that.

I don't know what kind of chemicals they put in that grass, but it's growing. So that changed a lot. It's been how many? 22 years since '94. Obviously, a lot of tournaments have passed. I think I played in my second U.S. Open then, and I think I'm playing my 24th. It's been quite a journey, to say the least. It's all good.

I would say they've really upped the ante the last five to ten years with the rough. Whatever they call it, the graduation of the rough, whatever, it's just thick, and it's a lot more dense than it was back in the day. We could move the ball around. It was almost more fun to play that way because you could advance the ball, you could get the ball to run towards the green. You're not always going to hit the perfect shot, but you had a chance of actually hitting a shot.

Now it's at least a half a shot penalty. You try to get a wedge out to where you can play your next shot from. That's just the way it is. They've really got the premium on accuracy and ball striking. It is what it is. I'm just saying, back in the day, it was a little different. We could maneuver the ball out of the rough.

That's interesting given the desire of the USGA to encourage recovery play, and may be why there was a 1/4 inch rough height lowering Tuesday. 

Prior to the tournament, the USGA's Jeff Hall described to the Tribune's Jeff Paulk the playability factor they hoped for with the rough.

“The whole idea is if you have 10 golf balls in the rough, we'll like to see six or seven be able to play to the green,” Hall said. “Maybe three or four you have to chop it out. But the 5-inch rough will be just the opposite.

“Where we think the benefit of that is at Oakmont, when firm and greens are bold, we want that players can chase a 6- or 7-iron onto the green and let the architecture take the ball where it's going to go as opposed to hitting a sand wedge out then wedging it onto the green. We don't want to lose some of the excitement. It's about the characteristics of the ground, which are used masterfully with the design."

Based on Els' comments on the stuff we've seen players post, I'm not sure the recoverability factor is there off the tee or around the greens with this look:

Rough short of 17 green... Yeah, I'd say Oakmont is ready 😳 @usopengolf

A video posted by Justin Thomas (@justinthomas34) on