Kostis Says Mickelson Clearly Didn't Put Enough Off Season Time In; Phil Posts 63

The analyst offered this CBS press release perspective on Mickelson's game before Phil torched Riviera with a first round 63.

The only thing consistent about Mickelson’s game right now is his inconsistency. Clearly he didn’t put enough time in preparing in the off-season. It seems like he would have found some answers. He is changing equipment almost weekly and it’s hard to really develop your golf swing when you always have different sets of iron and clubs in the bag. You need to pick something and stick with it…

"Don't be surprised if an official announcement is made later this week regarding Woods' return in Tucson."

If you had match play in the pool, Jason Sobel says you are looking like a winner:

Though I've been saying for months, purely on a hunch, that I believed Tiger Woods would make his season debut at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral, I'm ready to concede defeat, as it seems like every day there are more and more signs pointing toward that comeback getting started at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship beginning Feb. 25. Don't be surprised if an official announcement is made later this week regarding Woods' return in Tucson.

And as Sal Johnson elaborates in a Golfobserver rant that also takes CBS to task for weak coverage, it's time. Other than a few bright spots, the tour is really suffering without Tiger.

Kelly T And Connecticut Weather **

Reader Tony was watching the AT&T second round coverage and noted this about the announcing:

Kelly Tilghman just said Chris Berman's not wearing a sweater because it's 2 degrees back in Connecticut so he's warm. It was 50 yesterday and it's 30 now and the sun has been down for an hour. Can we please make her go away?

In Kelly's defense, what else is there to say about a man who acts like this?

Update on 2009-02-14 18:01 by Geoff

Rich Tosches at Yahoo details Nick Faldo's coverage of the Commissioner's round Thursday, apparently to the chagrin of Tilghman.

"He's one of the finest golfers for his height," Faldo said of the non-tall commissioner.

At the other Golf Channel microphone was Kelly Tilghman, who stirred great controversy last year when she suggested that players such as Sam Snead and Walter Hagen should take Ben Hogan into an alley and lynch him. This is where the expression "Hogan's Alley" comes from. I think.

Anyway, Tilghman flinched at each of Faldo's jabs at Finchem, in part, perhaps, because she admires the commissioner but mostly because, unlike Faldo, she did not win $8.8 million playing golf and probably needs the job.

So when Faldo, right off the bat, made a joke about Finchem's swing, Tilghman came back with this: "He's a solid six (handicap)."

When Faldo analyzed Finchem's swing in slow motion and said, "His arms break a little quick, and his hips are a little stuck and, oohh, there at the finish he's up on his tippy-toes," Tilghman was silent for several seconds - probably imagining herself announcing the Nome Open.

(After that long and awkward pause, Tilghman noted that Finchem was playing with Davis Love III and said, "They have a lot of policy issues they can talk about," which, if you ask me, is right up there with Al Michaels' "Do you believe in miracles?")

Andrew Magee's On-Air Slip Even Leaves Gary McCord Speechless

Steve Elling reports that Andrew Magee has been "disciplined" by The Golf Channel for a dicey remark that led Gary McCord to hit his cough button and utter to his stat-man, "and I got cut from the Masters for saying bikini wax?"

Magee, serving as a roving reporter during the second-round broadcast, told the network he believed he was off the air when he mentioned to fellow analyst Gary McCord that he had just seen a fan wearing a T-shirt that read, "I got kicked out of the Boy Scouts for eating a brownie."

McCord, who works primarily for CBS Sports, didn't react verbally and there were several moments of dead air following the comment.

Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins said the network received several e-mail complaints from viewers about the remark. The Golf Channel's online message boards have been filled with fan feedback on the matter.

"He was disciplined for that," Higgins said, from Orlando. "It was a mistake. He's fairly new in the role of on-course reporter, which is no excuse, but he has been disciplined, yes.

My sources tell me that Magee was forced to watch all previous seasons of The Big Break, then pen a paper on its pop culture impact, before having to listen to Inga Hammond read the paper back to him.

"any Swede"

The March issue of Golf Digest features an anonymous PGA Tour player survey and includes some pretty fun questions. My two favs:

WHO'S THE SLOWEST PLAYER ON TOUR?
Ben Crane: 43%
J.B. Holmes: 32%
Glen Day: 11%
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Michael Allen, Jason Allred, Tiger Woods, "any Swede"

What is it about the Swedes, anyway?

NAME ONE GOLF ANNOUNCER YOU COULD LIVE WITHOUT
Kelly Tilghman: 30%
Nick Faldo: 17%
Peter Kostis: 13%
Johnny Miller: 9%
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Curt Byrum, Bobby Clampett, Brian Hammons, John Hawkins, Renton Laidlaw, Dave Marr III, Gary McCord, Mark Rolfing

Congrats Peter!

Tiger's Return: The Most Anticipated Event In All Of Sports?

I know it's a press release, but I have a hunch more people will watch the Super Bowl, or for that matter, the World Series of Poker, than Tiger's first round play at Doral. Some nice corporatespeak here for those of you tracking at home:

COMCAST PROGRAMMING GROUP LAUNCHES NEW SPORTS SALES DIVISION
TO EXPAND ADVERTISING AND SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR GOLF CHANNEL AND VERSUS

Comcast Sports Sales to Leverage Networks' New Programming and Live Event Coverage

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2009 - Comcast Programming Group launched today the Comcast Sports Sales group to combine the strengths and assets of the GOLF CHANNEL and VERSUS sales teams. The new unit will focus on growing and diversifying sponsorship platforms for the networks and create new opportunities for ownership positions across multiple sports. Comcast Network Advertising Sales President David T. Cassaro will lead the new division.

"The creation of the Comcast Sports Sales unit provides many new opportunities for clients who seek a highly engaged sports audience," said Cassaro. "By bringing together the GOLF CHANNEL and VERSUS sales teams, we are offering the best possible marketing solutions for our advertisers and look forward to building on the networks' ongoing growth and success."

GOLF CHANNEL, currently in 82 million U.S. homes, continues early momentum from a record-setting 2008. Ratings for the first quarter were the highest in the network's history. Trends for tournament coverage outperformed all other networks. And, GOLF CHANNEL garnered its first-ever Emmy Award.

2009 tees off on GOLF CHANNEL with the most anticipated event in all of sports - the return of Tiger Woods. Only in the third year of an exclusive and unprecedented, 15-year agreement with the PGA TOUR, GOLF CHANNEL this year will offer a slate of programming that includes more than 100 tournaments across the world's major tours, incomparable news coverage, groundbreaking documentaries and an entertaining lineup of original shows, like "The Haney Project," featuring Charles Barkley, "Golf in America" and "Big Break."

Offering advertisers one of the best value propositions in television, the network's viewer profile - male, affluent, and hard-to-reach - coupled with the ability to deliver customized, integrated platforms provides partners maximum effectiveness for their advertising dollar. GOLF CHANNEL provides the perfect destination for receptive viewers to pursue their passion.

"It could be a blessing. They pulled him over 50 yards [outside the nightclub]."

John Hawkins talks to Hank Haney about the state of Charles Barkley's Golf Channel reality show after the NBA great's DUI.  Thankfully, it's still on despite the arrest report that has sponsors and other network execs fleeing.

Haney and Barkley had taped five of the eight episodes before the DUI. While production was on hiatus anyway, it's unclear when the final three episodes will be produced as Barkley deals with legal issues and an alcohol problem as big as the man struggling with it. Haney, who quit drinking in 1986, could see the situation getting more serious and had hinted to his friend that things weren't OK.

Still, grown men don't tell each other how to behave. Haney was with Barkley earlier on the night he got pulled over, which doesn't exactly lighten the load of regret, but, he says, "It could be a blessing. They pulled him over 50 yards [outside the nightclub]. They were waiting for him, and nobody got hurt."

"It's a big year for our talent"

Jim Gorant files a short profile of new Golf Channel man Tom Stathakes, who has shaken up the production team and is looking to elevate the channel's PGA Tour coverage. He's bringing in Paul Azinger for a few telecasts and evaluating the entire announce team. With incidents like this, sounds like there'll be some sleepless nights in Orlando.

"I like watching golf as much as the next sentient being, but four hours of it from the third round of a 32-man event? It's too much, and it leads to bad TV." **

Every member of the SI Golf Plus team--except for Steve the night janitor (who forgot his login name)-- piled onto golf.com's new weekly email roundtable to kick around Geoff Ogilvy's win at Kapalua. Weighing in at a hefty three pages - a novel by online standards - Gary Van Sickle opened up the conversation with concerns about, ironically, the length of Golf Channel's telecast.

While I love the chance to watch live golf in the evening, that doesn't mean I want to watch it the entire evening. What is this, the U.S. Open? I like watching golf as much as the next sentient being, but four hours of it from the third round of a 32-man event? It's too much, and it leads to bad TV.

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Is a four-hour telecast too much? Obviously, yes ... every other week of the year. But I love watching the Mercedes because the course makes for thrilling golf, the surfers and spouting whales are a fun diversion, and I'm usually ready to plug back in after months without a meaningful golf tournament. But the mood quickly passes, and then I prefer a shorter telecast to assist my DVR'ing.

I agree that the oversaturation was too much even with those stunning views and much improved production values thanks to Brandt Packer and Jack Graham.

But a greater concern for the PGA Tour should be the burden these excessive telecasts have on the announce teams and the potential created for idiotic commentary. I contended last year that the Kelly Tilghman's back alley lynch remark was largely a product of the announce conditions (too many hours to fill, too many executives wanting ESPN-cutesy humor that is not Tilghman's strongsuit).

This year Rich Lerner was charged with killing time via lengthy interviews and as was pointed out here, Boo Weekley came dangerously close to saying something embarrassing. Readers also noted that Lerner, innocently killing time, may have crossed a line in questioning Davis Love about his return to Hawaii.

As readers pointed out, Golf Channel's sycophantic coverage of Anthony Kim signing autographs and driving off in his courtesy car bordered on the ridiculous. Throw in way too much time for Mark Rolfing to fulfill his obligations to whoever in Hawaii is paying for raves, and the Mercedes Championship was a reminder that more telecast hours do not necessarily translate to a better "product." At four hours with announcers who can only say so much, the pacing is setting the stage for a product liability disaster.

Update on 2009-01-14 03:28 by Geoff

**Dave Seanor at examiner.com takes issue with another Rolfing comment, this one about drug testing.

It came shortly after Love declined to be interviewed by Rich Lerner because he had been summoned for a post-round drug test. To add context, Lerner noted that two trainers with whom he had spoken last year said tests were unlikely to reveal any use of performance enhancing drugs on Tour. Then the commentary shifted to Nick Faldo, Kelly Tilghman and Rolfing.

“What I don’t like about it is the fact that at the end of a round, you sign a scorecard that says ‘I shot 72 today,’ which means you played by the rules,” Rolfing said. “That was the score you shot. All you have to do is sign the card and that’s your score.

“Why do you have to submit to a drug test?” he continued. “Why can’t you just sign a piece of paper and say I didn’t take drugs that are banned and are in this book (PGA Tour Anti-Doping Program Manual). It’s against the grain of our game.”

Not only was Rolfing‘s remark incredibly naïve, but it also betrayed his woefully shallow understanding of the issue.

Yes, golf prides itself on the collective integrity of its players, but it is ludicrous to think golfers are somehow exempt from human frailty.

What next? Is Rolfing going to tell us golfers don’t cheat on their wives or girlfriends? They never roll through stop signs?

Sergio, IMG, Golf Channel Follow-Up

Earlier this week I cited reader Dan's observation that the 2008 PGA Championship highlight video, as aired on Golf Channel, was missing Sergio Garcia's tournament-changing shot into the 16th hole pond. Well I heard from some folks at IMG who understandably didn't like being accused of trying to put a Band-Aid on a client's boo-boo.

So I contacted Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins, who kindly launched an investigation and fessed up that Golf Channel, not IMG, had edited out the dreaded shot due to time constraints. Higgins conceded the omission wasn't the greatest choice but because the structure of the show script mentioned the bogey on 16, it made for an easy cut that would not confuse viewers.

The moral of this story? Well, IMG's still, IMG. But I say nice job by reader Dan for spotting it, good work by IMG leaving in the shot and marks even to Golf Channel for not trying to spin this. And considering the positive direction Golf Channel is headed with some truly exciting breakthrough coverage technology debuting this week, we'll let it slide. Not that we have a choice!

"Then, on the end credits, you see the film was produced by IMG."

Responding to the thread on Golf Channel's excellent U.S. Open re-broadcast of NBC's live feed, reader Dan adds this note about a less admirable editing effort:

Caught the PGA Championship highlight film/video on the Golf Channel a couple of weeks back. Focused on the back nine battle between Harrington and Garcia. But somehow, they edit out Garcia's ball in the water on 16. Gloss over it completely. Just say he made a bogey and that's it. Incredible. Then, on the end credits, you see the film was produced by IMG. Of course, Sergio is a client. Are the egos of today's professionals really so big and/or fragile? He knocked it in the water, right? That happened, right? Ridiculous. And I'm a Garcia fan.

He did indeed hit it in the water on 16 and it was, oh, kind of the pivotal moment of the day prior to Harrington's winning putt on 18.

Golf Channel's 2008 U.S. Open Rebroadcast

I don't know who at Golf Channel deserves the credit, but over the holidays its 2-hour edited rebroadcast of NBC's Sunday and Monday telecasts from Torrey Pines has been a pure delight to watch. Unlike the over-packaged one-hour highlight shows, we're getting the original announce feed and camera work, along with the occasional comments from GC's team of Kann-Chamblee and Nobilo taped from Torrey with the dramatic canyons as a backdrop.

Whoever at the USGA, NBC and Golf Channel engineered this deserves major kudos (and based on the calls I've gotten, the rebroadcasts are being watched pretty heavily).

I do remember that not to long ago, GC used to air classic PGA Tour events affording us the chance to hear the likes of Vin Scully and Lee Trevino. Wouldn't it be fun to watch more classic tournaments this way?

"The new age of televising golf on Thursdays and Fridays has backfired."

Gary Van Sickle tries to consider the health of the PGA Tour and focuses his case against Tim Finchem on the attempts to create too many "big events."

First, I thought this was a great point:

Too much television exposure: Finchem finally realized a long-term goal when every PGA Tour event got television coverage. The new age of televising golf on Thursdays and Fridays has backfired. At best, it's oversaturation. At worst, it's a bad product. My sympathies to the TV producers who have to find some kind of story to tell while covering the tail-end of the first or second rounds with nothing more to show than journeymen and Q-school grads. Often, the leader played in the morning, and no one near the lead is even on the course when the coverage begins. Factor in a B-team broadcast squad, and you've got a product far inferior to the weekend coverge.

I suspect that while he is right, the PGA Tour and sponsors love getting highlights of great shots aired on Sportscenter during the week and will never give up these early telecasts, no matter how boring they are.

Set Your DVR's For Cape Kidnappers And Stevie's Announcing Debut

Word is the world's richest luggage looper was so good, NBC's rethinking their 11:30 Tonight Show transfer from Leno to Conan.

Just how good was Stevie Williams on the Kiwi Challenge, airing Saturday and Sunday at 4 pm. EST? So good, you won't care that you are getting to see the spectacular Renaissance Golf Design effort at Cape Kidnappers.

Just look at this endorsement from executive producer Jim Walton Jr., courtesy of the saints at Brener-Zwikel:

 Steve Williams was fantastic. One of the great things to look forward to are his pieces traveling around on a helicopter the Robertsons provided. He started in Auckland, then went to the 90 Mile Beach in the north and shot a piece in the rainforest with the oldest and largest living tree in the world. He also released a rare kiwi bird on a preserve the Robertsons set up at Cape Kidnappers.

Okay, I swear I didn't touch Stevie's press release remarks:

On what stood out for him during his debut: “The knowledge and statistics that the commentary team had on every player.”

On how it went for him: “I really enjoyed the experience and have learned a lot about another part of the game.”

Interesting story: “On the thirteenth hole at Kauri Cliffs the moment Hunter Mahan's second shot left the club I knew it was well over the green and my first thought was that it was a bad yardage. But these days, caddies who work for this calibre of player don't make mistakes with yardages. I made the call on air which was a poor call on my behalf, however it was the first thought in my head.”

Ever?