Tiger Talk Alert: Golf Channel's State Of The Game II

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Last year they convened the Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, Nick Faldo, Brandel Chamblee and Roger Maltbie to talk about the state of the game and it became a roundtable about Tiger. With Maltbie taking a pass this year, they are promising to "discuss golf’s biggest issues in a roundtable format" at 8:30 p.m. ET. Friday night.  So that means at least two segments devoted to Tiger.
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Add Brandel To The Pro-Bifurcation List

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Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee, subject earlier this week of a New York Times story with some strong endorsements from his boss suggesting he could be in line to move up the NBC/Golf Channel ladder, penned a "Commissioner-for-a-day" piece for GolfChannel.com.  And he pegged bifurcation as the number one issue he'd address.
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"The tour purposely wanted to go long on Saturday so that NBC could direct viewers to Golf Channel for the conclusion of the third round."

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The NBC-Golf Channel merger has been a home run for viewers: energized telecasts, higher standards for production values, live Presidents Cup viewing, Johnny was able to drag himself to lowly Kapalua, and shoot, they've even had better guests on Morning Drive (well, except when I appeared). The list goes on and on, and we're only in the early stages.

That said, this revelation from Doug Ferguson's slow play column is bugging me for probably no good reason.

Here’s the bigger issue with TV. Mark Russell, one of the chief rules officials, showed off his atomic watch at Sherwood last month. The seconds were ticking toward 6 p.m. EST, just as the last group on the last green was tapping in. The timing was perfect.

The next day? Not so much.

Despite being in twosomes, play took much longer because of a strong wind. That leads to more time in club selection and on the green. Yet tee times were left alone, thus the third round went well past four hours and the 6 p.m. finish time on NBC Sports.

That wasn’t an accident.

The tour purposely wanted to go long on Saturday so that NBC could direct viewers to Golf Channel for the conclusion of the third round. It was another example of NBC Sports trying to help boost the visibility of Golf Channel now that both are owned by Comcast. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. Especially not when TV foots so much of the bill.

I suppose that is true, and I also know networks are generally sensitive to ever being seen as having influenced competition in a negative way, but this seems like a potentially dangerous direction to head. Yes, it was the Chevron World Challenge, and yes, tee times were not moved. And it's not a major. But considering how stubbornly the PGA Tour refused to do anything that might be seen as influencing competition with things like storyline pairings, they've had good reason.

I'm torn in even noting this because ultimately, the benefits of Golf Channel on NBC and NBC on Golf Channel will outweigh the negatives for viewers. Still, this just feels like a precedent setter that could someday backfire, though I'm not sure how. Thoughts?

Whew: Johnny To Get Tampa Week Off For Burdening Himself With A Kapalua Trip, Working With Sir Nick

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I've been wondering how NBC convinced Johnny Miller to make his way over to Kapalua for a lowly Golf Channel telecast when he already works so many grueling weeks a year (eight?). Sure enough, Doug Ferguson reports that Transitions Championship chokers need not worry about being heckled from the booth.

Miller said the plan is for him to skip the Transitions Championship outside Tampa, Fla., to be replaced by Tampa-resident Gary Koch.