"If you knew what you were going to get every week, then there's no point in having me"

The Augusta Chronicle's Scott Michaux considers the impact of Nick Faldo's sudden retirement from Masters play:

Faldo might have been pushed into the booth at Augusta somewhat prematurely by the latest batch of changes that have lengthened and tightened the course beyond the reach of aging, moderate hitters such as himself. When he got his first glimpse of the course last April, he offered a clue about his future at the Masters.

"I can't play it now," he said. "I'm just here for fun. I can't compete on a course like this, but fortunately I know that I have three jackets in the locker room, so that's fine by me."

As for some of the changes, Faldo wasn't afraid to be critical. Having those three green jackets earns him the license to be critical without fear of retribution, just as other multiple winners and club members Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer enjoy. Faldo called the changes to the tee shot on No. 11 "a little heavy-handed," with the dramatic alterations making the hole "not the same by miles, and it's a shame."

"I'll be smiling and laughing in another 10 years' time, when all these pine trees have grown up," he said last April. "It will be a scream sitting up here drinking pina coladas and watching them thread it through the Augusta needle."

Faldo certainly won't be drinking cocktails from the tower above the 18th green, but whether or not he will be free to be that candid on the air with his say-no-evil colleagues at CBS remains to be seen. Faldo is a man not easily muzzled.

"I duck and dive and go with the flow each week," Faldo said. "If you knew what you were going to get every week, then there's no point in having me, I guess. ... I'm respectful. I'm not going to beat on the guys but I think I call it pretty fair and square."

Does This Sound Familiar?

Helene Elliott in today's LA Times writes about the NHL's disastrous move away from ESPN to OLN (now Versus). It's hard not to think of the PGA Tour and The Golf Channel when reading this:

A year ago, with its season about to start and ESPN refusing to pay big bucks to renew its rights deal, a desperate NHL aligned itself with OLN, now known as Versus when it's mentioned at all. Either side can end that agreement after this season.

If the NHL is serious about becoming a major player, it must flee Versus, crawl over broken glass if need be, and beg ESPN to take it back.

Like it or not, ESPN is ingrained in our sports culture. NHL executives were furious that under the previous deal, ESPN cut its NHL coverage after it added the NBA. However, a profit-sharing deal with the NHL would give ESPN incentive to restore hockey to prominence.

"ESPN provides the sort of Good Housekeeping stamp of approval," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon and a hockey fan. The NHL, he said, "would be better off finding a working partnership between themselves and ESPN. If it were my decision, and not knowing the reason, this league needs as many symbolic attachments to maintain their position as a major professional sport."

Versus' appeal had three prongs: It was willing to give the NHL lots of airtime, it was willing to pay a rights fee, and it was there. It hasn't grown fast enough to give the NHL the exposure it needs, having only recently extended its reach to 70 million homes, 20 million fewer than ESPN and ESPN2. Nor has Versus created a distinct identity that separates it from its competitors in the cable universe.

"If we were going to grow, we needed to do something different," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in defending the deal. "While we gave up some distribution, the coverage was phenomenal. They will continue to grow over time and we think as a result, people will see better coverage of hockey."

Bettman said Versus has committed extensive resources and money to its growth...

Hey, but look on the bright side NHL. You aren't locked up for 15 years. 

Update On TGC Announcer Lineup

Golfweek's Rex Hoggard has new details on The Golf Channel announcer line-up (I know you were losing sleep in anticipation...but hey, with 15 years to go, this stuff matters to some of us).

Tilghman and Faldo will be joined in Hawaii by Dottie Pepper and Jerry Foltz, both TGC staples with extensive experience working LPGA and Nationwide Tour events as on-course reporters. Rocco Mediate, a five-time Tour winner and current player, also is slated to work the year's first three events as an on-course reporter.

Peter Oosterhuis and Mark Rolfing will share the 17th tower duties and Rich Lerner will produce essays and features.

Definitely sounding a bit more professional than what initially leaked out, especially with the addition of Pepper and Oosterhuis.  

First Prize: Your Own Infomercial?

Do you think the Big Break with Donald Trump marks a low point for The Golf Channel? Think again...

 The Golf Channel is in the process of developing a series that will uncover the next new innovation in golf.

If you have a golf related invention, let us know! The Golf Channel is looking for people of all ages and backgrounds, and with all types of golf inventions for this potential new series.

If The Golf Channel proceeds with the series, you will have the opportunity to showcase your product to an entire world of golf enthusiasts with the support of The Golf Channel and potentially turn your idea into the next big thing in golf!

If you think you have the next big idea, please fill the attached preliminary application and email it to inventions@golfchannel.com, or send via US Mail to:

The Golf Channel
Attn: Inventions
7580 Commerce Center Drive
Orlando, Fla., 32819

Please do not submit photos, sketches, descriptions or other information about the nature of your product or idea at this time.

Information and an on-line application are also available at www.thegolfchannel.com. For questions and for additional information, please email inventions@golfchannel.com.

If you have golf's next big idea, don't miss out on the chance to participate in this potential new series!

Is there any doubt what the winner gets for creating the next Medicus?

Their very own Golf Channel infomercial, placed in the coveted noon time slot to capture the lunchtime demographic and more importantly, so that it doesn't compete with The View.  

More On Faldo Hiring

Regarding the exciting news that CBS has hired Nick Faldo, Richard Sandomir in the NY Times shares this quote from a CBS exec:

Tony Pettitti, the executive vice president of CBS Sports, said Faldo's short period of work at ABC demonstrated an "easy ability to analyze, to vary his approach and explain and analyze things in different ways."

And now you know why Bobby Clampett still has a network job.

Peter McCleery at Golfoberver analyzes the surprise hiring, saying that it likely means Ian Baker-Finch may not be in CBS's plans now, and he raises this interesting point about Faldo covering the Masters (no, not the riveting question of whether he'll wear his green jacket on the air...):

His honesty may have the Masters folks on edge; he may have a hard time not telling us what he thinks of the course changes on a few holes. That delicate topic was nicely sidestepped on CBS in recent years as the crew fell into a unanimous chorus of approval.

Faldo In At CBS, TGC, ABC, BBC, Sky...

Jeese, where isn't he?

Thanks to reader Philip for this story on Nick Faldo replacing Lanny Wadkins at CBS, which was in dire need of new announcing life. Lanny declined a reduced role in order "to devote more of his time to playing on the Champions Tour."

Tilghman, Faldo, Lerner and Foltz

Ron Sirak and Stu Schneider report that The Golf Channel will pair Kelly Tilghman with Nick Faldo in the main booth, with Rich Lerner and Jerry Foltz (!?!?!?) on the 17th hole.

If nothing else, this news will bring legions of new readers to this site thanks to this very post.

Yes, one of the oddities of blogging is the ability to see how people reach your site. And believe it or not, based on one measely mention of Tilghman in a post a while back, 10-20 visitors a week find this site running searches for "Kelly Tilghman" and "pictures," or sometimes, her name and "nude photos."

What a wonderful world! 

Tape Delayed No More?

Golfobserver's Peter McCleery analyzes NBC's Ryder Cup telecast, focusing his criticism on the outdated nature of tape-delay coverage in the Internet era. He says sucked the life out of the Friday/Saturday telecasts here in the States, and I would agree. But even on tape, NBC could have done better...

If you're going to tape everything, use the time more wisely. As it was, there was 20 minute of nonaction to fill on Saturday, and the 20 minutes before that featured only one match still in progress.

Might NBC suggest that they didn't have enough time to edit the dreadfully slow morning four-balls, even though we know they did based on those tacky Rolex clocks decorating each tee?

Anyway, McCleery concludes: 

Here's hoping this is the last tape-delayed Ryder Cup ever and the last walkover in a while. The PGA and NBC have another four years to figure it all out. That's twice the time that the American players have. It should be enough to finally get this thing right.

They just had two years since the last Cup to devise an Internet strategy for this year's event, announcing the exclusive online coverage the day before the matches started.

However, there may be hope for U.S. viewers when the matches are played at Celtic Manor in 2010. It has been rumored that Friday Ryder Cup play may be spread out over two days (like the Presidents Cup). This would allow for 1 p.m. tee times on new host network ESPN, meaning a respectable start time in the east coast. And of course, we know that's all that matters.

This would also allow for a 10 or 11 a.m. start at Valhalla, allowing European viewers to go to bed at decent hour.

However, a Thursday start still doesn't solve the Saturday-on-NBC issue. And of course, we know that's all that matters.

Woods Win and Low Scoring=Great Ratings

According to AP:

Tiger Woods' victory at the PGA Championship helped the TV ratings increase 22 percent from last year.

CBS' final-round coverage Sunday drew an average overnight household rating of 7.2 with a 16 share. That's up from last year's 5.9 rating with a 13 share for Phil Mickelson's victory. This year's rating was the highest for the final round since 2002, when Rich Beem's one-shot victory over Woods earned an 8.0 with a 17 share.

That's quite a contrast to the U.S. Open, which saw its worst ratings in 12 years. The USGA will blame Tiger, but the buzz at Medinah brought on by birdies had to help too.

Peter and Tiger XOXOXOXO...Next Up, Middle East Peace?

With a major at Medinah looming, I'm under doctor's orders to limit this month's viewing of pro golf on back-and-forth, soulless designs. So I did skip most of Tiger's 50th (!) win at the Buick, though I did listen to portions of the telecast at the beach, and by golly, Bobby Clampett's bored tone did help induce my afternoon nap.

But more importantly, I understand from those who insisted on watching that Tiger Woods allowed himself to be interviewed by his favorite on-course reporter and swing commentator, Peter Kostis.

Whoever engineered this short-but-sweet reunion really should be included in any upcoming Middle East peace negotiations. If these two egos adversaries can patch things up for an exchange of inane post round comments, surely this middleman could help Condi and Koffi out too?

The Tiger Effect

Golfweek's Gene Yasuda kicks off a "Special Report" on Tiger's impact 10 years after turning pro, with other contributions posted here. Meanwhile the Washington Times' Tim Lemke focuses on television ratings.

Over the years, tournaments with Woods in contention have 10 percent to 20 percent higher television ratings than those without. And the exposure for sponsors, particularly Nike, can be worth $10 million for a big tournament, according to one report.

But this year, Woods has played in only 10 events and just three since the Masters in April. Woods went nine weeks without entering a tournament as he dealt with his father's death. During his absence, several key tournaments Woods normally enters saw major ratings drops. Sunday ratings for the Wachovia Championship in May were down 32 percent, while the Memorial saw a 39 percent dip in viewers.

Overall, ratings for golf on CBS and ABC are down more than 10 percent from this point last year, and ratings on NBC are down 3 percent.

It hasn't helped that the non-Tiger events have been won by a host of relative newcomers with little following, including J.B. Holmes, Chris Couch, John Senden and Brett Wetterich. And in six of those nine events, the winner prevailed by five strokes or more.

But this year's ratings dip clearly has not scared broadcasters away from the sport. CBS will expand its coverage from 16 events to 19, and NBC will broadcast 10 events instead of five. Meanwhile, the Golf Network is locked in to a 15-year contract as the PGA Tour's exclusive cable provider, and ABC will show the British Open through 2009.

Golf Channel, Golf Network. Eh, what's the difference.

"There's no question that having Tiger on the leader board has an effect on the ratings," said Brian Walker, Sports spokesman for NBC Sports. "That being said, NBC is bullish on golf in general as evidenced by our recent extension agreements with the PGA Tour, USGA and PGA of America, which will more than double our golf coverage beginning next year."

Unprecedented Multi-Platform Simulcast!

From the folks at TNT:

In a first for a U.S. golf event, Turner Network Television (TNT) and PGA.com, one of golf’s leading interactive Web sites, will partner to bring golf fans inside the ropes with 11 hours of live coverage featuring TNT and CBS’ on-air announcers, camera coverage and editorial content as they call the 2006 PGA Championship from Medinah (Ill) Country Club. The coverage tees off on Thursday and Friday, August 17 - 18, with PGA.com simulcasting six hours of TNT’s on-air content with coverage from 2 – 5 p.m. ET for both the first and second rounds. Also, PGA.com will webcast five additional hours of bonus coverage from the first two rounds of the championship. The exclusive bonus coverage will stream on Thursday and Friday from 12:30 – 2 p.m. ET, and then again on Saturday and Sunday from 10 – 11 a.m.  TNT broadcast partner CBS will follow late-round coverage on Saturday and Sunday to the championship’s conclusion.

Oh yeah, I'm up at 7 a.m. on PGA Sunday to watch that!
 

Here's the money quote:

“One of the benefits of providing six hours of simulcast coverage on Thursday and Friday is to build interest and viewership of the PGA Championship on TNT,” said David Levy, president, Turner Sports. “This landmark multi-platform experience is the perfect example of how, with the help and tremendous access provided by our friends at The PGA of America, we can leverage our expertise and technology to enhance our network coverage giving the fan the most complete two-screen experience. We wanted to debut this big idea at a big event, and what could be better than to do so at a major championship."

And I knew sticking with AOL would finally pay off:

In addition to the live coverage on TNT and PGA.com, AOL.com users will have exclusive access to live video coverage of select par-3 holes.  This coverage will be available free and open on the Web on Thursday and Friday at http://sports.aol.com. Announcers Grant Boone, Beau Estes and Christine Pullara will provide users with an in-depth look and analysis of the world’s greatest golfers as they make their way through the challenging par-3 holes at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club. Also offered is a unique interactive open forum where golf fans can email, log on to chat or send AOL Instant Messages to our anchors and expert analysts.

Does this mean we can IM Bobby Clampett?

Feherty and McCord On Pavin's Shotmaking

Not sure what to make of this exchange today between Feherty and McCord during the final round at Milwaukee as Corey Pavin prepared to approach the 4th hole: 

FEHERTY: You know it's really kind of interesting to watch this because he's playing the game the way it used to be played, but with modern equipment. He's exactly where Hogan would have been, but he's hitting a metal wood from here. He's got 212 yards. And this is a hard green to hit. These are little push-up greens, they slope off at the sides. It's a task for the amateur player to hit these greens with a wedge.

McCORD: I used to play a lot with him early when he was playing balata golf balls, he used to curve the ball so much it was unbelievable. He'd hit 40 yard hooks and slices out there.

FEHERTY: And that's why he plays so well on these courses. At Colonial, at Hilton Head, you know because you can move the old ball. You can't...this ball just wants to go straight. That's why players like Corey Pavin can still play. And it's great to see them.

Faldo-Azinger Pairing May Return For Future Opens

Richard Sandomir writing in the New York Times:

Faldo has already signed a new deal with the Golf Channel, but he said that he could work for ABC during the next three British Opens, while he expects Azinger to return to playing more regularly.

Norby Williamson, the senior vice president for production for ESPN and ABC Sports, said: “We’re interested in pursuing a course of action that keeps them together. We’re in discussions with Paul.”

Sandomir also has this on Sunday's rating:

Perhaps the thought of such an unsightly delicacy sent Sunday’s final-round overnight rating down 4 percent, to a 5.0.

Everywhere else it was reported as being up (4.9 to 5.0 generally seems like an increase, but maybe not to the paper of record?). Toni Fitzgerald in Media Life reports the rating was up 2%:

Ratings for this year’s two previous majors were down compared to last year, and the Tour, desperate to end its late-summer and fall declines, is one year away from instituting a first-ever season-ending playoff structure in hopes of goosing viewership.

Thus even a small boost for Sunday’s British Open ratings had to be considered good for the game. Woods’ victory, his first major championship of the year, averaged a 5.0 overnight household rating Sunday, up 2 percent over last year’s 4.9 when Woods also won the tournament.

If final ratings released later today hold, the final round could rank as the second-best final round in the past two decades, trailing only Woods’ record 6.4 for his 2000 victory...

Got To Get You Out Of My Life

Let's get right to the good stuff:

Clampett on the preparation Phil Mickelson will take for the PGA Championship in Medinah, IL: “I think he’ll get there very early.  His whole focus after this championship will be on Medinah.”

Profound.

Clampett on Sergio Garcia being paired with Tiger Woods for the final round of play:  “I think it’s going to be intimidating for Sergio to play with the world’s number one player, especially Tiger.  Look at Tiger’s record, the last 10 times he’s held a 54-hole lead he’s gone on to win.”

Gosh, I wish I had said that.

Clampett on Luke Donald:  “He’s like a duck on the water, he looks calm on the outside but he’s paddling like hell underneath.”

Bet you can't wait for the PGA!