PGA Tour: Partial Golf Channel Owner?

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Thanks to reader Noonan for noticing Len Shapiro's Washington Post piece on Nick Faldo, which included this curious mention...

Sadly, ABC and its corporate cousin ESPN, are now essentially out of the golf business, save for their contract to keep the British Open (with Faldo in the booth, by the way). Instead of having many of its regular season events covered Thursday and Friday on the so-called sports leader, ESPN (or previous partner USA Network), the suits at PGA Tour headquarters in their 2006 round of TV negotiations decided they'd rather have all early round tournament coverage on The Golf Channel, which the tour partially owns.

I know there have been other mentions of the PGA Tour owning The Golf Channel GOLF CHANNEL, but has this ever been confirmed by the Tour, or one of the policy board members? Wait, why would the policy board know anything. Silly me!

Elling On TGC's New Look

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Wait, I meant GOLF CHANNEL, not TGC or even GC. My apologies to the brand.

Anyway, Steve Elling shares a few eye opening numbers in looking at The Golf...dammit, there I go again...in looking at GOLF CHANNEL's...wait, is the apostrophe s in caps too? Ah whatever. Here's what he wrote.

The undisputed heavyweight king of cable sports, ESPN is carried in 92 million homes while the Golf Channel logs in at 75 million. However, those numbers don't represent much other than unfulfilled potential if nobody is watching.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the average number of people who watched the Golf Channel at any moment in a 24-hour broadcast day during the 2006 fall season was a minuscule 44,000 people -- the approximate population of Titusville -- or 1.1 million fewer people below ESPN's average in the same time frame.

Actually, more stunning was this chart buried at the end of his piece...

Network     Sport     Avg. viewers
ESPN    Multiple    1,153,000
ESPN2    Multiple    324,000
NFL Network    Pro football    119,000
Speed Channel    Auto racing    117,000
Versus    Pro hockey    75,000
ESPN Classic    Sports history    66,000
ESPN News    Sports news    62,000
Golf Channel    Golf coverage    44,000

That's right, more people are watching ESPN News and ESPN Classic and bloody hockey on the network formerly known as Outdoor Life.

This also was a surprise....

Industry observers anticipated sweeping personnel changes when the contract was announced, but the staffing has mostly been handled in-house. McGuire estimated that the company only added a half-dozen employees to its overall payroll, bringing the total to around 385, but some of the names were crucial additions. Leading the way was the addition of six-time major champion Nick Faldo, who after two well received years at ESPN/ABC, will serve as lead analyst.

Only six new staffers? 

Whoa. 

The Wisdom of Bobby Clampett, Vol. 317

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"If he wasn't a professional, he'd be out there playing every day."

That's our man Bobby Clampett talking about Geoff Ogilvy during yesterday's Grand Slam telecast (thanks to reader Noonan for catching that pearl).

Here are some others, courtesy of TNT's PR department (yes, they actually send this stuff out!):

Clampett on Geoff Ogilvy:  “He’s been playing well for several years.  Everybody believes in him.  Everybody in his camp and in his circle said, ‘man, he can really play’ but I don’t think he believed that he could really play.  And that has been the difference in 2006 – that belief in himself.”

Clampett on Weir:  “He’s the modern day version of Corey Pavin – the bulldog that just keeps nipping at your heels.  He’s never going to let go.”Clampett on Jim Furyk as a high school athlete:  “Furyk in high school was an avid football and basketball player.  He just didn’t have the size.  He once scored 23 points in a high school basketball game.”

The meticulous research this man does! 

Clampett on the par-4 12th hole at Poipu Bay:  “That hole is placed like a candle on the side of a birthday cake.”

What imagery.

Clampett on Furyk’s unorthodox golf swing:  “He has grazed the edge of almost every putt today.  When you look at Jim Furyk and you talk about his style of swing, it’s not one that you would see many players copying, that’s for sure.  It’s like he’s not driving the fanciest car but he’s getting the best gas mileage.”

Clampett on the maturation of Geoff Ogilvy:  “He has gone through a metamorphosis in his temperament and character.  He talked about how he used to have an unbalanced view of reality.  He’d play a good round of golf and then look for reasons why it wasn’t any good.  But that is not the Geoff Ogilvy of today.  He’s composed and he just played two poor shots.”

Had enough? There are 18 more holes today!

"This format certainly makes the inaugural FedEx Cup next year seem less, well, playoff-y."

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Gary Van Sickle touches on something that I think is key with the ADT Championship: it's TV friendly on days other than Sunday. Of course the PGA Tour has run scared from such antics (ruining the International's Saturday cut to Sunday's free for all shootout).

Sadly, pro golf is a TV show first and a tournament second now. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar format become more popular.

Saturday's third-round telecast is usually inconclusive. A winner isn't crowned until Sunday. There's no closure. But the reduced-field format used by the ADT provided a sense of closure. And with only eight players left on the course Sunday, even though they all started out even before the last round, it's easy for TV to cover the action and be ready with features and backstories on the remaining contenders and not be surprised by an unexpected, early come-from-behind winner.

This format certainly makes the inaugural FedEx Cup next year seem less, well, playoff-y. That's significant because the Tour is touting them as playoffs, which they aren't. For starters, no other sport lets everybody into the playoffs -- not even the watered-down NHL.

And really, outside of the majors, what's wrong with a few more events shaking things up? And please don't give me the tradition debate. If the Western Open can be dismantled, tradition is not even on the table for discussion with the PGA Tour. 

"It's like going to a party. You show up and everyone's ready to go."

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Jerry Stewart interviews Johnny Miller for the Monterey County Herald. Let's see how long Johnny can go without referencing his 63 at Oakmont.

Q: Recently it was announced that the LPGA will have steroid/drug testing in 2008, do you think that should be the rule on the PGA Tour as well?

A: I guess some women on the tour think that others have an unfair advantage. Who those players are I have no idea. As for the men's tour, it's hard to believe people would take steroids to enhance their game. Then again, there may be a guy on the bubble who wants that extra 20 yards off the tee. Guys already do a lot of things to calm their nerves. Some guys drink and no one really knows about it. Some take legal drugs. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some guys out there taking steroids.

It's hard to believe people would take steroids to enhance their game. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some guys out there taking steroids. Okay.

Q: What are your thoughts on the equipment issue? Are guys too long off the tee?

A: I don't see a real issue here. Even with all the new equipment, a 63 is still a heck of a score. I managed to do it in an U.S. Open.

If you had question 2 in the pool, you won!

You still have 18 tries to make it into that little hole. I look at it that if a guy wants to bomb it 320 yards off the tee, he is trading off the chances of getting in more trouble. You still have to hit your irons and make the putt. While players may be emphasizing length, there is still room for players like (former pro) Calvin Peete, Fred Couples and Mike Weir. Guys who focus on accuracy off the tee. You don't have to hit it nine miles to score. You still want precision and accuracy.

Wait, did he just put Fred Couples in the same category as Calvin Peete? Because Freddie hits it so short, you know.

Q: What about the question regarding square grooves and irons?

A: Actually, the irons that are used by players today aren't much different than the ones we used back in the 1970's. The square grooves (which allow more spin) on today's irons do, however, help the players. It may help half-a-shot a round, but that's two shots per tournament which could add up. In my day, we had to worry about the ball jumping off the clubface. Today's players don't have to worry about that. In my opinion, the PGA Tour and USGA should roll back where, during competition, all players have to use V-grooves.

And you may get your wish.

Q: What do you think of Tiger's venture into the world of golf course design?

A: It sort of shows his creative side.

Oh? Don't you have to have designed a course before we know if there was some creativity involved?

Obviously, it's also a money making venture and shows that he's already thinking about life after golf.

Because Lord knows, he could be low on cash someday.

I'm sure some people like the Tour and Nike are scared that he may not stick around too much longer as a player. Tiger still has a lot of years of playing golf in him, but who knows? I've designed over 30 courses and it's fun. It's like going to a party. You show up and everyone's ready to go.

Kind of reminds you of something Bobby Jones would say, doesn't it? 

Talk About Awkward...

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...did you catch the Tour Championship interview of Tim Finchem?

This contractually obligated torture session pits ABC's ESPN on ABC's outgoing announcers with Finchem, who seems to have grown more reticent each year. He struggles to make eye contact and apparently is unable to show any genuine pleasure. (At least for his $10 million a year, the NBA's David Stern tries to crack a joke now and then, and this is a man who told SI's Jack McCallum in the Nov. 6 issue that he wishes he could ban his players from carrying guns...and he's not joking).

So here I was thinking that maybe, just maybe that lame duck ABC ESPN on ABC and loose cannons Faldo and Azinger, we'd actually get a spirited exchange.

After Finchem thanked ABC for "years and years of commitment to communicating the sport so well" and noting that the "production quality has always been superb," you could hear people turning channel Finchem noted that he was excited about the continued relationship with ESPN. Whatever that's about? (Probably the Tour paying ESPN to do "Sportscenter from the Players Championship" or some such thing.)

Azinger then selfishly asked about the schedule in 2008, with 7 of last 8 weeks before Ryder Cup involving the "playoffs."

"Well, we have a one-off," was Finchem's answer before shooting down Azinger's assertion that the situation was in any way messy.

Faldo then tried to make a joke about receiving the Commissioner's annual wine selection, an apparent holiday gift that Finchem naturally pounced on to plug of the tour's wine label (boy we're really reaching the 18-34 y.o.'s now!). Then Faldo asked about getting more WGC's played in International locations, which set Finchem up for some silly assertion that China could grow to 200 million golfers if it keeps on Japan's pace.

So here ABC ESPN on ABC has a chance to ask a tough question and they lob him two that have been asked repeatedly in press conferences this year.

Rivetting television. Actually, I got a big chuckle out of the tension and awkward nature of the whole thing, so it was good for something.
 

"It's my first love, playing golf"

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Craig Dolch profiles Bobby Clampett in the Palm Beach Post. I know, you're printing this one out.

Bobby Clampett can talk a good game of golf. That's what he's done the past 15 years as a CBS golf announcer. He can analyze the game, the swing, the players. He can break down a player's swing, write a book about it, then turn his attention to golf-course design.

But the one thing about golf he enjoys far more than the others is playing it. Pure and simple, getting on the golf course and seeing how much he can control his swing for 18 holes. No excuses, no commentary, just performance.
Maybe he could return to playing full time? 
"It's my first love, playing golf," Clampett said by phone this week. "I feel when you have a God-given talent to play the game, you will never be fulfilled in life unless you give it your best. It's a gift. You sit on a gift, you don't do anybody any good."

And I think it sounds like God is going to help give him the time to pursue his gift full time...

But another part of his interest in playing golf again is his uncertain status at CBS - he still hasn't signed a new deal as the network has made several changes for 2007.

We can only pray that they'll make more changes. 

"Someone's going to have to define Nick's role"

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In the current Golf World "Bunker" (not posted online), Stu Schneider talks to Peter Kostis about the hiring of Nick Faldo.

"Someone's going to have to define Nick's role," Kostis said. "Nick is a very funny guy, but he's not going to compete with [David] Feherty or McCord, and we don't need an excess of funny on our telecasts. I think he's being hired because of his golf knowledge and his ability to communicate it."

So two questions.

Are Feherty and McCord really funnier than Faldo these days?

And, CBS does not need an excess of funny on their telecasts?