"Johnny at least could have stuck around Saturday night when the golf ran long and NBC gave way to Golf Channel."

In the latest edition of the weekly epic known as the SI Golf Plus/golf.com/Golf Magazine/Fortune/Time Inc/AOL "PGA Tour Confidential," the guys and gals kick around poor old Johnny Miller, who apparently had a big dinner date Saturday in Tucson that precluded him from staying on when coverage went to Golf Channel.

It seemed even more bizarre to me that the NBC lead man was trying so hard figure out why Jack Nicklaus scattered bunkers all over the Ritz Carlton GC at Dove Mountain's 4th fairway instead of pinching down the landing area like Johnny on his many wonderful, timeless designs.

After the SI gang seems to decide that the 36-hole final needs to go (I would agree, the morning 18 was the best part and only five spectators saw it), the group debates the merits of Johnny:

David Dusek, deputy editor, Golf.com: Sorry, but I think a big part of the problem was not only 36 holes, but Johnny Miller too. It kills me to listen to him answer his own questions when he is tossing to Maltbie or Koch. He has opinions, and that's refreshing, but it's All Johnny, All The Time, and it gets old fast.

Gorant: Disagree. It's definitely Johnny and the Johnettes, but he still works for me. Koch on the other hand is not my favorite. Hate the "that's a good lesson for you folks at home" tips he's always throwing in. If you see it, describe it. If I can glean something from that, great; if not, OK, but stop talking down to me.

Hack: Johnny at least could have stuck around Saturday night when the golf ran long and NBC gave way to Golf Channel. Johnny was out of that booth at 6:01 p.m. Eastern.

Herre: I'm a Johnny guy. Even after 20 years, he has an unpolished quality that I like. You can tell he's going with the gut. Yes, Koch and Maltbie come off as sycophants, but I don't know if that's Johnny's fault.

For some reason I thought Johnny's lack of genuine passion for golf architecture really shined this week on a new course that needed explaining. One example: The ninth hole appeared to have a really neat bit of strategy where a safe drive left gave the players a blind second shot while a longer, riskier line opened up a view of the green. Nothing original mind you, but great to see Nicklaus at least trying to do something interesting. And Johnny just couldn't get past the blind second shot or the aforementioned swarm of bunkers on the par-4 4th, where Jack actually dared to break up the center line.

I'm not saying the holes worked, but at least there were signs Nicklaus was trying to do something that warranted further explanation beyond the required raves about a new place that players clearly didn't care for.

Barkley Censored Twice In The Tiny Portion Of Promo Telling Us The Show Is Uncensored!

Having now committed The Haney Project with Charles Barkley spot that Golf Channel aired relentelessly over four days of the Accenture Match Play, I chuckled each time they mentioned "uncensored" and then bleeped out whatever obscenity came from Barkley's mouth.

Yet even after airing number 416, I still missed what a reader picked up when Barkley's driver head flies off and he utters the dreaded profanity: Golf Channel blurs out his headcover to protect the innocent maker of some crappily crafted $500 pile of junk!

A double censoring. But the show is uncensored!

And no, that is not a giant fingerprint on my widescreen:

Totally censored! (click to enlarge)

Northern Trust Hostage Crisis Day Four: Resolution Could Be Near!

Tom Petruno reports that Northern Trust is laying the ground work to possibly pay back their TARP money and to quiet their critics.

The bank hasn't said so directly, but it most likely didn't need the capital infusion, and went along with it because the government wanted participation by healthy and unhealthy banks alike.

In his letter to Frank, Waddell said: "We understand this is a time of great anxiety and financial distress, and your question regarding our support of an event such as the Northern Trust Open is legitimate.

"We deeply regret that some of the events associated with the Northern Trust Open have distracted from the positive nature of an event that has raised more than $50 million for charity since its inception."

As for repaying the $1.6 billion, which now is earning a 5% annual dividend yield for the Treasury, it isn't clear how easy that will be.

One key question is whether the government will require the bank to raise the same amount in private capital to replace the federal money, a task that could take some time.

Meanwhile SportsMediaWatch reports that the Northern Trust Open was the highest rated golf broadcast since the 2008 U.S. Open.

Highest rated golf events since Tiger Woods' injury.
3.3: Northern Trust Open, Final Round (Sun., 2/22/09, 3 PM CBS)
3.3: British Open, Final Round (Sun., 7/20/08, 8 AM ABC)
2.9: Ryder Cup, Singles Matches (Sun., 9/21/08, 12:30 PM NBC)
2.8: PGA Championship, Final Round (Sun., 8/10/08, 2:30 PM CBS)
2.4: British Open, Third Round (Sat., 7/19/08, 9 AM ABC)
2.4: Ryder Cup, Foursomes/Fourball Matches (Sat., 9/20/08, 9:30 AM NBC)

NBC Contemplates Running Continuous Loop Of Tiger's Matches This Weekend Before Settling On Slightly Excessive Coverage Plan

From Diane Pucin's media column in the L.A. Times:

Tiger Woods is out in the second round of the Accenture Match Play Championship, beaten Thursday by South Africa's Tim Clark. That means Woods won't be playing Saturday and Sunday during live network television coverage of the event, but he'll still be prominent on NBC.

"We'll have to deal with showing what happened to Tiger because this has gone from being a golf tournament to a news event," NBC golf producer Tommy Roy said. "Our weekend telecast will have to deal with showing what happened to Tiger. It will be our duty."

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.