When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
The Indianapolis Star's Phil Richards with the exclusive on the recent BMW Championship host site Crooked Stick, reportedly making an "a formal presentation was made to PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka and managing director of championships Kerry Haigh on Aug. 30 and the BMW Championship served as a proving grounds of sorts."
I'll say!
The Nielsen overnights NBC's BMW Championship telecast where Rory McIlroy bested one of the best leaderboards you'll see in modern times.
Third round: 1.8 (1.0 in 2011)
Final round: 2.6 (0.9 in 2011)
**Golf Channel lowered it to a 2.5 in their press release...
o Overnight ratings for Sunday’s final round on NBC (2.5 household rating) was the best since the inception of the PGA TOUR Playoffs in 2007 and up 150 percent over last year.
o Golf Channel’s final-round, lead-in coverage (0.7/676,000) was up 154 percent over the same coverage in 2011.
o Saturday’s coverage of round three on NBC (1.8 overnight rating) was up 125 percent over 2011 and continuation coverage on Golf Channel (2.0/2,104,000) was the highest-rated and most-watched Saturday golf telecast on Golf Channel this year.*
o Round one on Golf Channel (1.0/979,000) was the highest-rated and most-watched round one of the BMW Championship as a PGA TOUR Playoff event (since 2007).
o Viewership for round two on Golf Channel (1.7/1,660,000) was up 200 percent over last year.**
Rory McIlroy, clearly hearing it from fans to the point he issues this letter today after his comments to the Daily Mail seemed to indicate he would represent Great Britain in the 2016 Rio Olympics if he qualifies.
The letter (click to enlarge):
From Golf Channel, Monday night at 10 ET for an hour:
Legendary Conversation: Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Trevino (Premiere)
Airtime: Monday, 10-11 p.m.
Guests: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino
Moderator: Rich Lerner
Hall-of-Famers Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino come together for a rare, roundtable-style interview to share stories and experiences from their legendary careers. Rich Lerner hosts.
A preview from Rich Lerner on Morning Drive:
This shot with Tiger should make up for the family Labor Day photo John Daly posted on Facebook.
Thanks to reader Tom for the tip.
From Doug Ferguson's game story covering Rory McIlroy's impressive win over a star-studded leaderboard at Crooked Stick in the 2012 BMW Championship:
Any of the top 30 players who advanced to the Tour Championship have a mathematical shot at winning the $10 million prize.
The full results here.
Mike McAllister tells us about the top 30 advancing. He explains the movement of several players near the bottom, a series of truly spellbinding moments in golf television history that NBC covered dutifully to keep Ponte Vedra happy. Even better for us viewers, allowed for perfect channel changing to NFL and U.S. Open tennis until the telecast returned to the superstars clogging up the leaderboard.
Sean Martin breaks down each of the top 30 to advance and earn exemptions into the first three 2013. Way to go John Huh, overcoming the Q-School baggage!
Jim McCabe on a how Hunter Mahan played himself into the Tour Championship without a top 10 since April and weekend rounds of 80-77. In his usual canded manner, Mahan reveals he's "out of gas," showing perhaps how hard he worked to find his game for the Ryder Cup. I mean The Playoffs.
The SI Confidential gang was very happy to see Phil Mickelson finish T2 and T4 in consecutive weeks just before the Ryder Cup.
So many great matchups to pick from. I mean, San Francisco-Green Bay, New England-Tennessee, Pittsburgh-Den...oh sorry.
Without the almighty Notre Dame playing today, coverage returns to Golf Channel at noon ET, and NBC at 2 ET.
That's Lee Westwood quoted in Doug Ferguson's BMW Championship gamer where a storyline pairing leaderboard emerged without the rule staff having to do a thing. As opposed to the Crooked Stick grounds crew who somehow made the course playable after 2.94 inches fell overnight on an already water logged course.
The full leaderboard. Golf Channel's Golf Central highlight package from round three.
Check out the last four groups:
Woods/D. Johnson - 1:15 - Former bomber/current bomber contrast of styles and also possible Ryder Cup teammates despite their struggles in the Presidents Cup.
Scott/Garrigus - 1:25 - Who let them in the middle of this?
McIlroy/Westwood - 1:35- Former "stablemates" have had an awkward and awkwarder relationship since
Mickelson/Singh - 1:45 - Former footwear feuding rivals still won't be sharing any stock tips even if they've softened with age and injury
The leaderboard seems to be validating Crooked Stick as a venue, something the WGA has already taken note of as they are making clear a return would be A-OK with them according to this AP note.
ESPN's highlights:
Dan McFeely talks to Pete Dye about Crooked Stick's backstory as the PGA Tour visits for the BMW Championship.
Both story and accompanying video include Mr. Dye talking about how the course was created and stories about negotiations with Mrs. Kerns over purchasing her farm for the course.
Fun stuff as only Pete can tell it both in McFeely's written version and in the video.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
