A-Listers Beware: Fox Showing Weekday Coverage In Prime Time

/

Mike Reynolds reports on Fox's ambitious plans for U.S.G.A. event coverage and in particular, the U.S. Open. The news coincided with Fox's launch at the USGA annual meeting at the hotel of the people, the Waldorf Astoria. (Brad Klein with notes on the weekend.)

While the coverage time is up about only three hours for the U.S. Open over NBC/ESPN (who were on seemingly all day) with Fox Sports 1 showing golf from noon to 8 pm ET, the real eye-opener is Fox's plan to air three hours Thursday and Friday in east coast prime time (8 pm to 11 pm). NBC used to come on weekday afternoons to show a few hours of marquee players.

This means a "11.5 of the 22.5 hours scheduled for Fox will air in primetime," according to Reynolds.

Generally, the late wave of play at west coast US Opens has consisted of qualifiers and the trash crews. Galleries are thin and volunteers often outnumber fans. By 8 pm PT the A-listers are off having dinner and most of the media has moved on, while sensible spectators left hours before. And with a 17-mile spectator shuttle ride for all, the masses will be long gone even if Bobby Jones came back from the dead to qualify and is out on the course.

Yet with Fox (the big network) going live from the U.S. Open Thursday/Friday for prime time and the network paying handsomely for the privilege, this would seem to force the USGA to go with elite pairings very late in the day. It's hard to imagine Fox showing qualifiers on the big network on a Thursday night. But stranger things have happened.

The full U.S. Open broadcast schedule:

R.I.P. Billy Casper

/

One of the game's all-time greats-particularly with a putter--has passed. Billy Casper was 83. While I never saw him play in his prime, the three-time major winner and 51-time PGA Tour winner displayed his controlled hook with grace and precision on the Senior Tour where he was a 9-time winner.

Tod Leonard, of Casper's native San Diego, on the legend's passing.

In an email, Bob Casper said his father had suffered from pneumonia after Thanksgiving, spent five weeks in the hospital and then returned home. He was doing rehabilitation four days a week, but last Thursday became weak.

“He went downhill quick,” Bob Casper said. “It was quick. But he didn’t have any pain. It was peaceful.”

The AP’s obituary, by Doug Ferguson.

The New York Times' obituary, by Richard Goldstein.

Jaime Diaz’s Golf World feature on Casper prior to the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club.

Rex Hoggard on Casper's legacy in golf, including one remarkable stretch.

Dubbed “the most underrated golfer of all time” by Johnny Miller, Casper’s 27 Tour victories from 1964 to ’70 topped every player during that timeframe, including Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.

Jack Nicklaus took to Facebook to remember his friend. Just part of the statement:

“Billy Casper was one of the greatest family men—be it inside the game of golf or out—I have had the fortunate blessing to meet. He had such a wonderful balance to his life. Golf was never the most important thing in Billy’s life—family was. There was always much more to Billy Casper than golf. But as a golfer, Billy was a fantastic player, and I don’t think he gets enough credit for being one. I have said many times that during my career, when I looked up at a leaderboard, I wasn’t just looking to see where a Palmer or a Player or a Trevino was. I was also checking to see where Billy Casper was.

Here's a fairly recent clip of Casper telling David Feherty how even Tour Players are unaware if his accomplishments.

Roundup: Glutes, More Glutes And Nothing But The Glutes!

/

Ron Kapriske talks to Golf Digest fitness advisor Ralph Simpson about deactivating your glutes, as Tiger asserted happened to him Thursday at Torrey Pines.

He says gluteal deactivation can happen, however, Tiger would have looked pretty ridiculous if actual shutting down occurred.

"Even if a person could play golf with their gluteal muscles partially or completely deactivated, you'd usually notice huge compensations in their golf swing," says Simpson, a certified physical therapist who worked on the PGA Tour for several years. "Their hands and arms might do more of the work to compensate for a lack of core strength, or there might be a sway or slide with the body. It would look very awkward for a pro."

Dr. Ara Suppiah explained to Gary Williams the problems Tiger is having with his back and did believe fatigue might be an issue, while offering a few theories. He also addresses the use of the jargon in question.

ESPN.com's Bob Harig talked to former Tiger instructor Hank Haney, who is questioning Tiger's desire and also his obsession with speed.

"All I've heard about is speed," said Haney, referring to Woods' comments that his speed -- and hence a good bit of power -- is back. "And yet all his stats are bad. He was 186th [on the PGA Tour] in greens, 160th in scrambling, 184th from 50 to 125 yards, 169th in three-putt avoidance. What does that have to do with speed?

"That's not your problem, you can't find your ball. You can't chip it on a green from 5 yards. And I thought this guy was going to fix his back."

That would be Chris Como, Woods' new swing consultant, who was brought on board due to his background in biomechanics and the ability to help Woods produce a swing that does not put pressure on his back.

If this isn't enough analysis, Morning Drive figures to have some pretty lively discussions this Sunday...

Breed, Blackmar, Chamblee, Diaz and Williams to Examine State of Tiger Woods’ Game in Roundtable Discussion on Sunday’s Morning Drive
 
ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 6, 2015 – A roundtable of experts will discuss the current state of Tiger Woods’ injuries, examine his golf swing and short game struggles, analyze the current mental aspect of his game and debate his future in a special Sunday segment on Morning Drive (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET) on Golf Channel.

The panel discussion, moderated by Morning Drive host Gary Williams, will include The Golf Fix host and 2012 PGA of America Teacher of the Year Michael Breed, Golf Channel analysts Phil Blackmar and Brandel Chamblee and Golf World Editor-In-Chief Jaime Diaz, who has followed Woods’ entire career.

Woods withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday – his third withdrawal in his past nine tournaments – citing back pain.