"PGA Tour goes all-in on simulcast gambling"

Morning Read’s Mike Purkey paid for Peacock Premium and did us all a public service in watching the first-ever golf gambling simulcast. Oddly, the whole endeavor is powered by PointsBet whose customers can legally bet in just six states. And sports gambling is no where close to even being on a legislative radar in Arizona, home of the Waste Management Open.

It sounds like there are a few hundred kinks to work out.

The TV guys did their best to explain how it all works and attempted to share their thinking on the faux bets on Thursday. They even asked Croucher and Teddy Greenstein, former longtime sports columnist at the Chicago Tribune, for advice on betting strategy.

To say the PointsBet pair hedged would be understating the point. They absolutely refused to give betting advice, and with good reason. The purpose of a sportsbook is for as many people as possible to lose. That’s why they call it gambling.

The most awkward part of the webcast was the effort by the announcers to mix golf analysis with betting analysis. Do one or the other, but remember: This is not a traditional telecast.

More than once, viewers were encouraged to have a gambling budget and stick to it, that advice coming from the American Gaming Association.

Like I said, thank you Mike. We owe you one.

This Is More Than A Metaphor For How We'll All Be Streaming CBS Golf

While there was the oddity of seeing Bryson DeChambeau lumped in with a range of CBS and Paramount characters in a Super Bowl ad, it was also a gentle reminder of where cordcutters will find CBS golf broadcasts after March 4.

One other note: DeChambeau got the gig along with a brief cameo for Tim Tucker. It was Tucker who tried to block a CBS cameraman from capturing images of DeChambeau last year.

At the summit of Mount Paramount, a surprise greets our heroes as they celebrate sweet victory.
This is #PeakStreaming. This is #ParamountPlus. Launching March 4. https://t.co/wy45vK00p8 pic.twitter.com/omJQ4UzOfk

— Paramount+ (@paramountplus) February 8, 2021

CBS Golf Enjoys A Strong Start To 2021

Live drone shot over the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open

You know how the old saying goes: one man’s suspicious embedded ball relief is another man’s gain.

The 2021 Farmers Insurance Open breathed some much needed life into the PGA Tour schedule by returning to scenic Torrey Pines with a strong leaderboard, multiple (compelling) storylines and a well-produced broadcast. But it was CBS’s strong production and announcing effort that sustained the shows much needed drama until Reed’s lead became insurmountable.

With Sellers Shy taking over for Lance Barrow, we knew several innovations and tweaks were coming. Other changes were more evident in adding zip to the normally dreary task of broadcasting golf. Random observations from the weekend:

—The new lower right scoreboard will be a fantastic addition. It may take some getting used to for viewers and camera operators. During Sunday’s show it was already apparent the camera operators were trying to better incorporate it into the frame. The new feature was helped by a close tournament and it cleverly keeps the leader displayed at all times, adding just a bit more understanding and even urgency to the proceedings.

New lower right scoreboard

—Shy Shows Less Standing Around. Many times CBS came right up to player as they were pulling the club back. This meant more live shots but also a little less time seeing players addressing the ball, mashing down rough with their club or conversing with caddies. That also may have been intentional for another reason…

—Sound seemed less prevalent overall. Almost as if they are worried about picking up less-than-savory player comments? This was a setback from 2020’s focus on sound to make up for the lack of crowds. And remember my motto: the least interesting player-caddy conversation is almost always more informative than anything an announcer can add.

—The drone shots were (even more?) spectacular. Maybe the Kaze Aerial team upgraded the camera or the soft light helped, but the shots seemed even sharper and more mesmerizing. Make sure to thank Torrey Pines in your Emmy acceptance speeches.

—The Goodyear Blimp still has its role. We’re spoiled on CBS shows with both the blimp showing a shot from above while the drone provides birdseye scenics. Without fan energy, these extras help make a slow sport more visually attractive on modern televisions. And note to beancounters: breathtaking views are appreciated by all demos.

—Quick departure to Eye On The Course. Too much of our time has been wasted hearing music and a slow toss to an Eye On The Course break. That ended this weekend where the split screen of a commercial and golf happened abruptly. The pivot was jarring at first, but was soon welcomed in moving the telecast along. So was the addition of Eye on the Course as the on-tape CEO interview played. Let’s keep shrinking that CEO box to the size of the leaderboard and expanding the live action, please. Pretty please?

—College Basketball ate into the telecast again and this year, perhaps because of the breaking news or a return to old form, CBS did not start on Golf Channel as they did during last year’s West Coast Swing to great acclaim.

—Nantz in Monterey. The remote effort worked well. There was no detectable delay. Given how little Jim Nantz can roam around under CBS COVID protocols, he may be doing more events from there. You know Sean how I love Memphis in July and the people at FedEx, but I see there’s been a tiny outbreak near Southwind and you know, just to be safe…thinking of my carbon footprint too. What do you think?

—Smartcart graphics. The new hole graphic showing ShotLink scatter charts akin to technology Fox and Turner have tried, was used sparingly. It has great potential and just looks cool on screen. Let’s face it, anything that demonstrates an effort to stay current will help golf broadcasts. Another plus: host Amanda Balionis and others could see it well, Tony Finau who said he liked the new “cool technology”.

—Painful FanDuel integration. At least Frank Nobilo pounced on Nick Faldo’s bold selection of west coast native Xander Schauffele likely excelling in the coming weeks at west coast venues. The banter helped save some otherwise stilted and painful sponcon that made the announcers uncomfortable.

—Sunday’s opening segment recapping Reed’s situation ate into vital tournament storytelling time, but it was the national buzz and a recap proved both necessary and compelling. As I noted in The Quadrilateral analyzing the various responses to the ruling, the announce team’s willingness to explain why this was just not normal behavior came through loud and clear. The Tour may not have liked it but as sports television the conversation was compelling. The only thing lacking? Perhaps a segment on tape with one of the team members explaining how most elite would have approached the situation and what they would have done to avoid the reaction Reed got. But this would have contradicted the rules official’s claim Reed did everything right and highlights my final point…

—The in-booth rules official role must go independent. This was the reaction I had when CBS announced the new plan and within a half hour it was apparent the experiment, while forward-thinking, will not work as long as the official is also paid by the players he’s commenting on. Ken Tackett was thrown into the fire immediately, as Jim Nantz said Sunday in a follow-up chat regarding the Reed situation. Having a rules expert will be huge given how much CBS leaned on Tackett over the weekend. But the role will need to be someone independent similar to network NFL rules experts. As a paid employee of the Tour, Tackett and other officials in the planned rotation will not be able to analyze or educate, something the Reed situation should have allowed for.

LPGA's TOC Doubles PGA Tour's Amex Audience In Fruitless Head-To-Head Against NFL

With the two NFL games drawing audiences of 41 and 44 million thereabouts, golf had little chance. There were more people trying to scrape the last bit of guac out of the bowl at any given time than watching golf.

Don’t believe me? Look at the numbers. With a very strong microscope.

For reasons known only to people who draw six and seven figure salaries, the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour continued their bizarre tradition of trying to finish against the NFL’s conference championship games.

The 2021 final rounds of the Diamond Resorts TOC and American Express Championship played out on NBC and Golf Channel respectively. Both were better-than-average finishes, with the LPGA averaging 557,000 viewers to the PGA Tour’s 297,000 according to ShowBuzzDaily.

The LPGA’s season opener drew an almost identical number last year on NBC.

And this, despite a pretty dreadful viewing experience caused by pace of play and a heavy commercial load, as written about by Will Knights at The Fried Egg.

As for the Amex, it also drew similarly pitiful ratings in 2020, landing between Vengeance: Killer Coworkers on HLN and Vet Exotic on National Geographic. The 2021 Amex final round was beaten by the event’s Friday and Saturday rounds along with every college basketball game aired last week but three. And there were some real stinkers on that long list.

The Amex’s Monday rebroadcast also failed to crack the cable top 150 shows, killing the “total audience delivery” case to the AmEx executives wondering how to justify the sponsorship.

Also, no rounds of the Abu Dhabi HSBC won by Tyrell Hatton over Rory McIlroy drew a discernible audience last week. And with five days left in January 2021, Golf Channel’s non-live golf coverage has yet to have a show crack the top 150 cable shows on any given day.

This is all a nice way of saying: week-to-week pro golf has a product crisis on multiple fronts.

CBS Returns With Dedicated Rules Official, New Music, Mini-Leaderboard And Drone Coverage

After the last three weeks of minimalist PGA Tour broadcast coverage expect CBS to restore some order at Torrey Pines.

Last year’s Farmers Insurance final round started with CBS started its season also having to address and cover the death of Kobe Bryant, something Bryce Miller recapped for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

As for the broadcast goodies, look for a few new touches and don’t expect to see some of the pandemic-related experimental efforts from last year like Inside the Ropes and players wearing microphones. Carryovers include the live drone and other aerials we’ve also missed out on for a while.

For Immediate Release, with interruptions.

CBS SPORTS CONTINUES LEGACY AS LEADER IN GOLF COVERAGE AS NETWORK TEES OFF 64TH CONSECUTIVE PGA TOUR GOLF SEASON

Most Comprehensive Lineup in Network Television Featuring 20 PGA TOUR Events; Season Begins with Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday, Jan. 30 and Sunday, Jan. 31

Sellers Shy Assumes Role as Lead Producer for GOLF ON CBS 

Network to Debut New Elements for Broadcast Including a Constant Mini-Leaderboard, New Theme Music, Rules Official, and More 

CBS Sports continues its legacy as the leader in golf production as it tees off its 64th consecutive year of PGA TOUR coverage, as once again the network features the most comprehensive lineup in network television with 20 PGA TOUR events. 

Led by new lead producer Sellers Shy – only the third lead producer in CBS Sports’ storied golf history – the network, in collaboration with the PGA TOUR,

At least they didn’t go with “powered by the PGA TOUR”…

will debut new elements to enhance the broadcast, including a constant mini-leaderboard; new theme music; a dedicated PGA TOUR rules official; enhanced capabilities and presentation for SmartCart; live drone coverage, and more. 

Most intriguing will be the prospect full-time PGA Tour rules official dedicated to the telecast. Based on the CBS media call last week, we’ll see them at the SmartCart and hopefully get more use out of that for replays and highlights, ala Sky Sports.

The downside? An independent rules official as all football broadcasts have now might be more inclined to share stronger takes in controversial situations. But, as the release says, this is a collaboration.

As for theme music, I’m not clear who the composer is for those fans of Helmut VonLichten’s oeurve.

CBS Sports begins the season at the Farmers Insurance Open next weekend on Saturday, Jan. 30 (3:00-6:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Jan. 31 (3:00-6:30 PM, ET), from Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif.

Jim Nantz anchors CBS Sports’ golf coverage, and is joined by lead analyst Sir Nick Faldo, along with analysts Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo. Lead on-course reporter Dottie Pepper, with Mark Immelman and Trevor Immelman, and reporter Amanda Balionis, round out the CBS golf announce team. Andrew Catalon and Colt Knost will join select CBS broadcasts as well. 

CBS Sports Network will air ancillary golf programming throughout the season as well, beginning on Monday, Jan. 25 (11:00 PM, ET), with COURSE RECORD WITH MICHAEL BREED featuring renowned golf instructor Michael Breed and co-host Greg DuCharme discussing the latest in the golf world. Additionally, FALDO FORMULA, featuring Sir Nick Faldo, will begin its second season in April. The network also will air classic PGA TOUR telecasts each week leading up to the tournament on CBS.

The CBS Television Network also will broadcast six PGA TOUR Specials and six Korn Ferry Tour Specials, along with multiple COURSE RECORD WITH MICHAEL BREED and FALDO FORMULA episodes, throughout the season leading into live golf coverage. 

Nice upgrade for those two shows to get the network slot.

For all PGA TOUR events this year, CBS Sports’ full coverage will be available to stream live in markets across the U.S. via the CBS All Access subscription service, with additional coverage on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports app, and CBS Sports HQ, the 24/7 streaming sports news service. ViacomCBS’ existing subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, CBS All Access, will be rebranded as Paramount+ on March 4. 

I can envision Paramount Plus becoming Jim or Sir Nick'’s go-to for the pre-round voice warm-up. Nothing like alliteration.

Sellers Shy debuts as lead producer, with Steve Milton as director, for CBS Sports' golf coverage. Sean McManus is Chairman, CBS Sports. David Berson is President, CBS Sports. Dan Weinberg is Executive Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Executive Vice President, Production, CBS Sports. 

Last year, the PGA TOUR Season on CBS averaged 2.495 million viewers, up +17% vs. 2019 and marking the network’s best viewership average in five years.

2021 Sony Open Final Round Ratings Beat Out, Well, Not Much

2021 Final Round Sony Open overnight rating

With tee times moved up and going against the NFL’s Browns-Chiefs playoff game, the 2021 Sony Open drew pitiful ratings and reinforced the annual insanity of going up against the NFL.

According to ShowBuzzDaily the final round .19 meant an average of 305,000 viewers and just 30,000 from the 18-49 yo demo.

The four rounds as reported by ShowBuzzDaily:

Golf Channel Turns 26 And Viewers Share Less-Than-Happy Birthday Wishes

Twenty six years after Joe Gibbs and Arnold Palmer announced Golf Channel’s launch, an innocent and well-meaning social media staffer posted video from that great day on both Twitter and Instagram .

What ensued was an onslaught of negativity about the channel’s direction. Click on the Tweet and you can read the replies, though the above embed gives you a pretty good idea of the direction the remarks took.

Twenty-six years ago today, Arnold Palmer and Joe Gibbs took a leap of faith.

Happy anniversary, Golf Channel. 🎉 pic.twitter.com/C7tyYyj7PM

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 17, 2021

Adding to the toxicity—besides the obvious bare bones start to 2021 following mass layoffs at the Orlando operation—the cancellation of Feherty.

David Feherty took to Twitter regarding the outpouring of support he’s received and viewers expressed almost unanimous displeasure at the cost-cutting move. (Click on the Tweet and you can read the replies).

Hey Fehertwits! Thank you for an amazing reaction since my show has ended. The last ten years have been a dream, thanks to the incredible people who agreed to be on this show, and all the men and women from NBC/Golf Channel. Stay tuned, you never know what might show up!

— David Feherty (@Fehertwit) January 17, 2021

Feherty's Talk Show Is A Wrap After Ten Years On Golf Channel

GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall with details of the long rumored, and now officially sad news: Feherty is a wrap.

David Feherty will continue as an NBC golf team member and old episodes will be available on Peacock.

It’s not entirely clear what killed the show beyond the recent cost slashing and having exhausted the lists of pro golfers worth hearing from.

“I don’t know what the reasons were for the decision. I think it was a combination of things,” Feherty said via telephone from his home in Dallas. “We haven’t been able to shoot any episodes because of COVID. The Golf Channel move. I don’t know. Maybe it was just time.

“I think a lot of people are going to be surprised that it got canceled. It always sort of amazed me the [number of] people that watched. Ten years is a whole lot more than I thought I would do. I loved doing it.”

When asked about the decision to pull the show, a spokesperson for Golf Channel did not offer a specific explanation.

Ratings Non-Shocker: NFL Playoffs Relegate PGA Tour To Bottom Of Ratings Barrel

For your definition of insanity files: the PGA Tour annually tries to play at the same time as NFL playoff games and no one watches. With expanded playoffs in 2021, the NFL added a game each weekend day and the Sentry Tournament Of (Some) Champions stood little chance.

Showbuzzdaily.com reports Sunday’s early coverage drew an average of a million viewers on NBC, but about 40% of those watchers did not head to Golf Channel for the conclusion.

Saturday’s third round coverage was out-rated by Thursday and Friday coverage. It landed in Saturday’s cable listings with a 1 am episode of Dateline and episodes of Ryan’s Mystery Play Date on Nick Jr network. Yikes.

The final round .39 on Golf Channel matched last year’s final round .39, but as the numbers show, the miniscule number from coveted demo is headed in the wrong direction.

One ray of good news?

Golf on NBC was not the lowest rated sports broadcast on linear TV. Not even close. Sunday’s early coverage drummed both Drone Racing AND Supercross 1Q1!

Slowing Down Golf Courses Is Not A Distance Debate Solution

Several sent along Dr. Chamblee’s latest distance elixir, his 43rd pivot on a topic Golf Channel’s lead analyst has adopted to the detriment of his otherwise compelling analysis work. And it hasn’t even brought a certain Massachusetts advertiser back into the fold.

I won’t waste much time highlighting his view that you slow down home runs by raising the infield grass, but that is the case being made to deal with today’s absurd carry distances. But remember, these are back to back sentences as they appeared on GolfChannel.com:

But there is also a graph which shows, quite clearly, players’ increased visits to the fitness van plots the line of the increased yardage gained over the last 40 years. I’d argue that one could also make a graph where the increased driving distance, to some extent, corresponds to the decreased fairway heights, which over the last 30 years have come down from being cut at 3/4 of an inch, to now being cut at 3/16 of an inch.

Yes, you read correctly: he went from players going to fitness vans to get their distance gains “to some extent” corresponding with lowering mowing heights.

Actually, no extent.

There was also a whopper of a misrepresentation that might have been fact-checked if they hadn’t fired most of the editors. Chamblee’s claim of most fairways getting cut at 3/16th of an inch was refuted by the USGA’s Championship Agronomist on Twitter:

Vast, vast majority of courses are not routinely cutting fairways below 1/4 inch, not even close. Not even at the Tour courses.

— Darin Bevard (@DarinBevard) January 6, 2021

This was all really a roundabout way to point out that last weekend’s Sentry Tournament Of Some Champions was hard to watch. The views and whale shots were as spectacular as ever, but Kapalua’s Plantation course was a sponge.

A Coore-Crenshaw design to played on the ground with the ball running had taken on a lot of rain leading up to the tournament, hasn’t played faster after the renovation designed to help it do so, and therefore called on little creativity or shotmaking. It played longer, yes, but it was also tough to find remotely compelling.

Every course plays better firmer and faster. Harvesting rough, slowing down fairways and attempting to mute technology-fueled gains via agronomy is not only a woeful idea, it goes against the very soul of a game built on firm ground.

Does anyone want to sacrifice a core principle of golf to avoid taking 10% of carry away from 1000 golf pros? Trying to watch lush and lifeless Kapalua should give you the answer.

Why The "Golf's Biggest Events" Graphic Evokes So Much Outrage

Given the terrible times you’d think golf fans might be shrug off a silly, poorly-executed graphic.

The current graphic of scorn comes under the banner, Golf’s Biggest Events. In the past it’s been something about Championship Season, Season of Championships, etc. and has been relentless mocked by the younger sophisticates the game theoretically hopes to embrace.

The PGA Tour’s partners at CBS, NBC and Golf Channel all have used the graphic because of exposure to PVDS, currently untreatable by any drug or vaccine.

Ponte Vedra’s Desperation Syndrome has been seen most in VP’s based around greater Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It generally inflicts males with marketing backgrounds. Scientists looking into the syndrome have found PVDS to most impact those with almost no sense of the game’s history, no interest in anything but PGA Tour, and who have shown an almost irrational belief in The Players and FedExCup Playoffs rising to major championship levels.

PVDS has also been known to be highly contagious in certain sectors. Researchers find that senior level television network executives often labor under the syndrome’s most relentless, bonus-impacting elements. They will even sometimes take to Twitter, as NBC’s prime PGA Tour liaison Tom Knapp did, to defend the madness as viewers point out flaws in the graphic’s logic and execution. (See below.)

(The replies now sleep with the fishes after just one too many replies slamming Golf Channel for ignoring the women’s game, but that’s why we leave browser tabs open.)

Various LPGA players and media shared the tweet and their disdain for the inconsistency (examples here, here, here and here. The most pointed from an LPGA player:

“Ratings”

1. Golf network decides women’s golf has no value to fans(?)
2. Golf network pretends women’s events don’t exist
3. Casual fans can’t fit them into the context of the golfing calendar
4. Casual fans don’t watch the events they were never told about
5. Poor ratings
🔁 https://t.co/MJezU448N5

— Meghan MacLaren (@meg_maclaren) January 8, 2021

You can still see the offending graphic above and screen captures of the replies below. Obviously, the graphic should have simply said Men’s Biggest Events or something more clever. And the graphic should correctly state the dates of the FedExCup Playoffs, though the inclusion of those playoffs is only to keep the Ponte Vedra red phone from ringing. Few syndrome-free individuals believe they warrant inclusion on the list of championships above and many other smart folks could make a case that the desperation undercuts the cache of certain “biggest” events.

The outrage in a time of strife and pandemic speaks more to the channel’s unexpected new direction for those outside of the thralls of PVDS and who, devoted as viewers, fear for its future.

Just this week, Golf Channel reporter and anchor Lisa Cornwell painted a less than rosy picture of the network’s culture and its recent elimination of females from the channel payrolls in the name of Comcast/NBC Sports cost slashing.

The graphic causes more annoyance than is should due to relentless rollout of the USGA’s “Women Worth Watching” campaign, fueled on and off air by a woefully inorganic Golf Channel rollout.

And finally, these kinds of graphics remind viewers that a successful channel built on catering to many different golf audiences and viewers is fueled by a move to PGA Tour state TV mode that is already tough to watch and increasingly harder to trust.

Now, back to the more serious matters at hand.

**The people were heard!

@BigRandyNLU you did this! pic.twitter.com/EEKL9MApy1

— Golf & Science & Bulldogs (@BrianMcGolf) January 8, 2021

NLU Podcast: Lisa Cornwell Shares Allegations Of Golf Channel Mistreatment

Adam Woodward and Julie Williams at Golfweek break down Lisa Cornwell’s appearance on the No Laying Up podcast. Most concerning to viewers is the incident detailed related to this fall’s ANA Inspiration when Cornwell shared on air that LPGA player and early contender Xi Yu Lin had been unable to get new Mizuno clubs after a fitting two weeks before the ANA Inspiration. She ended up buying the sticks in the latest oddball tale of a manufacturer not giving an LPGA equipment, even as USGA rules allow for freebies that manufacturers now regularly shower on young (mostly male) amateur players.

It certainly was legitimate news but Cornwell received pushback from headquarters and was pulled from her assignment for not checking with Mizuno. Certainly a reporting mistake but one compounded by a Golf Channel correction that was not correct.

After that round, Cornwell described a heated phone call from Russell over the way it was handled, namely that Cornwell did not call Mizuno to confirm the story before mentioning it on air. Cornwell said she was aware of many other LPGA players who had a similar experience with other equipment companies as Lin.

Golf Channel brought Cornwell home from the event after that round and she did not conduct another post-round LPGA interview on air through the end of the year. Golf Channel also sent a correction concerning Cornwell’s reporting of the Mizuno incident via Twitter. Lin and the club fitter both responded that the correction was not actually correct, and Cornwell said a Golf Channel HR manager admitted the same to her. The tweet remained on Golf Central Twitter anyway.

Cornwell said the events were prominent in her next correspondence with the EEOC.

“A man, in his 60s, who was my boss, screaming and cussing me out and sending me home over a gender-related issue from a women’s golf tournament during the middle of a retaliation, gender-discrimination, EEOC case,” she said on the podcast. “I don’t know what organization allows that to happen but Golf Channel didn’t do anything about it.”

The full podcast is here or wherever you subscribe:

-@LisaCornwellGC’s seven year tenure at the Golf Channel recently came to an end. She has spoken out on social media about how she was treated there, and now joins the podcast to tell her story.

Apple: https://t.co/I0mWYhWd1O pic.twitter.com/pbaeZsjpsJ

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 4, 2021

**Hall of Famer Karrie Webb has voiced support for Cornwell:

Truly respect @LisaCornwellGC for taking this stance. There’s no place for this kind of treatment of women anywhere! The golf industry and the @GolfChannel is no exception either. Well done Lisa! 👏👏 https://t.co/pgQMMCCfS4

— Karrie Webb AO (@Karrie_Webb) January 5, 2021

PNC Challenge Averages 1.5 Million Viewers, LPGA's CME Up Too

The 2020 PNC Challenge (aka parent-child, child-grandparent, etc…) delivered better ratings news than the run of recent fall events, reports ShowBuzzDaily. Boosted by Charlie and Tiger Woods, the event drew a .88 (typo above) and an average of 1.5 million viewers or so both weekend days.

That’s a nice bump from last year’s playing on the same weekend as the Hero World Challenge in early December. The event doubled its audience from 2019 and more than doubled the audience size of the last fall PGA Tour event of 2020, which also aired on NBC.

The news was also solid for the LPGA Tour’s season-ending event. Played in late November 2019, the CME Group Tour Championship drew a .30 and average of 395,000 viewers. Those numbers jumped to a .47 and average of 686,000 for Sunday’s early start won by Jin Young Ko.

The weekly numbers also include Monday’s U.S. Women’s Open final round rating of a .19, barely higher than rounds one and two of the 2020 CME.

"For 25 years, he’s been bringing Tiger Woods to the masses"

Before last week’s PNC Challenge, Michael Bamberger profiled the end of NBC golf director Doug Grabert’s 25 years. It’s a name we don’t hear as often as the producers Tommy Roy and Tom Randolph, but one equally as important to that well-oiled machine.

Of particular fun is Grabert reliving the 2008 U.S. Open broadcast, for which NBC won an Emmy.

NBC had a camera on Rocco. Another on Tiger. Another on his ball. Another on the hole. Another, ground level, showing the green and the amphitheater around it. Another on a tall, high swinging arm called a jib. Go to three, go to four, go to Dog, go to jib. Grabert, every bit as focused as Woods, instructing his technical director, Mark Causey, what buttons to press, for our viewing pleasure. Bapabapabababop. Posterity would come later.

Dog was Mike Wimberly. The plumber can come back. The reporter can make another call. In live TV you’ve got one chance to get it right. That broadcast won NBC Sports an Emmy. The putt had no right to go in, it was so wobbly, and it had every right, it was struck so purely. Rocco’s face said it all: I knew he’d make it. Tiger’s face said more: This is what I live for. Grabert, too.

The USGA has posted the full final round broadcast here. And here is the portion of the telecast described in Bamberger’s piece. Spoiler, he makes it again.

The unforgettable final round of the 2008 U.S. Open, with Tiger Woods, Rocco Mediate, Lee Westwood and others battling for the title at Torrey Pines (Calif.)...

Video: Morning Drive's Send Off Segment And A Tribute To The Hard Working Staff

Thanks to producer Jon Burket for posting the final segments of Morning Drive as the show wrapped up operations and Comcast/NBC continues it’s diligent search for new ways to save pennies while abandoning the sport they pay handsome rights fees to show.

On a personal note, it was an incredible pleasure to have worked with all of the folks tagged in the posts below and the many more who got Morning Drive on the air seven days a week. I can’t emphasize enough how much effort and passion for golf so many brought to the show (or developed as they came to know it better). To all of the folks behind the cameras over the years who got up at those dreadful hours, told the stories, took out the corporate partnership trash, waited on answers while the execs were grinding hard at the country club, and then did it all with a smile: please sleep in. You earned it.

Part II. @RobertDDamron @Paige_Mackenzie @LThompsonGC @MattAdamsFoL @damonhackGC @AnnaWhiteley @Garywilliams1Up @aaron_bearden3 @TimKillian @JaimeDiazGC @MattGinella @CaraBanksGC @schultztopia @CBrienne @CharlieRymerPGA And many, many others. pic.twitter.com/stiGwHyZ44

— Jon Burket (@JMBurket) December 20, 2020