CBS (Sort Of) Avoids Historic Production Disaster During 2019 PGA Final Round

A new contract kicks in next year for the PGA of America with CBS and ESPN. Details are sketchy, and given the PGA’s tendency to prioritize profit over what’s best for their fans or the game, I’m not optimistic that we will see a cutback in promos and ads.

What is also not clear: will there be higher standards demanded by the PGA of America of their broadcast partners beginning next year? It’s always a tricky thing to be telling television professionals how to do their job, but for starters the odd tradition of CBS witholding major production elements from their weekday PGA Championship partner needs to go. We can only hope the PGA would have stipulated this in writing to protect their product when it airs on ESPN.

One thing you can’t legislate: production mistakes. As Andy Nesbit writes at For The Win, fans are livid with the certified disaster that was CBS going to an interview with Dustin Johnson instead of staying with the incredible drama at the 18th hole. That’s where Brooks Koepka was faced with a brutal lie on a bunker edge. A double bogey sends the tournament to a playoff.

An unusually chatty Johnson was gabbing away as Koepka hacked his ball quite impressively back into the fairway. The ball was easily chunkable from such an awkward position.

Nesbitt writes before rounding up the Twitter outrage: “It was just terrible timing and angered fans watching the drama unfold on TV.”

While it’s not comparable to the infamous Heidi debacle, had Koepka flubbed the shot and collapsed, the decision to conduct an interview would been one of the great blunders in television history. Still, the moment will be remembered and analyzed given the need to set up the scenarios facing Koepka, who is notoriously fast. Fans were deprived of watching a huge moment and undoubtedly CBS’s Lance Barrow feels awful about it.

Let’s hope with a new contract and a clean slate at Harding Park, all of the parties get together and beef up the PGA Championship broadcast in the interest of their credibility, the health of the championship and most of all, the desires of fans watching at home.

First PGA In May: 3.9 Overnight For CBS Coverage, Peaks At 5.4 During Conclusion

Brooks Koepka’s 2-stroke victory started as an apparent runaway but got interesting and the numbers suggest viewers turned over as the lead shrunk. CBS’s final round coverage drew a 3.9 rating, down significantly from last August’s 6.1 overnight when Tiger, Koepka and other top names dueled down the stretch.

Last year’s Players Championship, the final in May ( a week prior to the new PGA date) and featuring Woods in contention, drew a 4.1, up from a 2.6.

Austin Karp of SBJ posted some numbers and context.

Looking further back, CBS drew a 3.9 in 2012, when Rory McIlroy won by 8 strokes (Tiger finished tied for 11th). CBS also drew 3.9 in 2016 for Jimmy Walker's 1-stroke win over Jason Day, which had date moved to avoid Rio Olympics (Tiger DNP) https://t.co/Sl2MDR8wsC

— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) May 20, 2019

Competitive golf -- with or without Tiger -- matters. While CBS yesterday drew 3.9 overnight for complete final round, the network spiked to a 5.2 from 5:45-6:45pm ET when it became competitive between Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka. Peak of 5.4 came from 6:30-6:45pm

— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) May 20, 2019

The (Next) Match: Forget Tiger And Phil, How About Brooks And Brandel?

In winning his second PGA and fourth major in his last eight starts, Brooks Koepka still gladly shared his anger at having his toughness questioned by Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee.

“Telling me I wasn’t tough,” Koepka said during a news conference. “That pissed me off. That really pissed me off.”

He wouldn’t name Chamblee, but did not leave any question who he was talking about.

Chamblee spent this week walking back some of his Koepka critiquing during the week, even comparing this run to Tiger’s play in 2000.

But I believe we need to take this manspat to the next, proper level: pay-per-view!

Since The Match II hasn’t been announced yet, I’d like to propose Brooks vs. Brandel.

Koepka can play all the way back while Brandel plays from the senior tees. Brooks can give Brandel two aside and we can all bet on it. Even better, they won’t give five footers and while the witty banter won’t be there, the potential for drama will be! Think about it MGM!

Chamblee defended himself in an interview with Morning Read’s Alex Miceli and on Morning Drive, suggesting he never said Koepka was not tough, though he said at the Masters he was not convinced of Koepka’s toughness.

Koepka Wins The 2019 PGA: First Roundup And Your Kneejerk Reactions

Steve DiMeglio’s USA Today game story sums up what turned into an exciting final round (for a bit), as Brooks Koepka defended his PGA Championship title at Bethpage Black. He has now won four of the last six majors he has played.

Koepka said this was by far his most stressful major win due to the difficulty of the Black and high winds.

Michael Bamberger on Brooks Koepka overtaking golf like dominant golfers before him, with comments from Greg Norman saying that Tiger wilted in Brooks’ presence.

Eamon Lynch on the Tiger-like alpha golfer Brooks Koepka has become and a day by day look at Koepka’s evolving week:

There are many similarities between Koepka and Woods, not least that they bludgeon courses into submission and display a studied disregard for their fellow competitors. “He’s like Tiger in that they march to the beat of their own drums. They do things their own way,” says Claude Harmon III, Koepka’s coach of six years.

The Black Course held up well if difficulty is your thing, though there were some interesting shifts from 2002 to 2009 to 2019 probably attributable to May, setup and changes in the game.

CBS's New "Aerial Tracing" Is Getting Slaughtered, Maybe A Bit Unfairly?

People, people! Breathe!

Sure, the latest attempt at breakthrough technology was not perfect in its Saturday debut. GolfDigest.com’s Christopher Powers rounds up the rants in reaction to the first hole tee shot of Justin Rose, the technology’s debut on CBS.

The issue appears to be one of scale and visibility. The holes were presented horizontally, forcing a reduction in hole scale that made it hard to tell if a ball was heading for fairway or rough. The shot from the blimp kept the entire hole in view, which took us even farther away from being able to see details. There was also some uncertainty in when to cut away from the trace to the ball landing.

I still see a level of authenticity in seeing the actual hole instead of a graphic (since the graphics often do not reflect reality).

If the architectural features of the landing can be better delineated by the view, and the hole presented vertically to improve size and perspective, this could have great value.

Here is the Tweet with quite the onslaught of comments

Nice drive, Justin Rose.

For the first time ever on a golf broadcast, Aerial Tracing gives you an overhead look at the shot’s flight pattern. pic.twitter.com/V0vKckldSW

— GOLFonCBS (@GOLFonCBS) May 18, 2019

2019 PGA First Round Ratings Hold Steady, Close To Last Year's May Players

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch notes the “slight bump” in PGA round one ratings, the first in the new May date. Up 1% from the 2018 PGA, down 7% from 2017 PGA.

The average audience of 990,000 viewers was comparable to last year’s Players, played a week earlier, where the audience was slightly larger (1 million viewers).

Latest Green Reading Book Silliness: NCAA Championship Official Book Deemed Non-Conforming On Event Eve

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols details the latest fiasco with non-banned-but-should-be green reading materials”: official yardage books from the NCAA Division I women’s championships are non-conforming. By 1/16th of an inch. On ten of the holes.

“We’re just going to go to Office Depot and get some sticker labels and cover up all 18 of them,” said Purdue coach Devon Brouse.

Officials didn’t specify which of the 10 holes were in violation.

The new interpretation for Rule 4.3a, which went into effect Jan. 1, stipulates that players may use a putting-green map during play, but it must be “limited to a scale of 3/8 inch to 5 yards (1:480).”

The original green reading book ban discussions would have been more restrictive, but the USGA and R&A watered things down a bit, and now we have the same information, only smaller. Most of the time.

Just ban them and get it over with!

Trump Golf Properties Showing Mixed Financial Results In The Presidential Era

Lachlan Markay and Sam Stein breakdown President Donald Trump’s financial disclosure form for 2019 and while losses at Mar a Lago garnered much of the headline attention, we learned more about where golf stood in his empire revenues of $352 million, down $387 million from 2017.

The Trump National LA number stood out:

His Mar-a-Lago club brought in about $2.5 million less than it did in 2017. Income from the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles dropped by roughly $3 million. And the Trump Organization’s hotel management arm saw its income plummet by nearly $16 million, though its numbers for 2018 were more in line with those prior to Trump assuming the presidency.

Other Trump properties fared better. His Doral resort in Miami hiked its income by about $2.2 million in spite of internal concerns about declining residency reported by The Washington Post this week. Trump Turnberry, a golf resort in Scotland, saw income increase by $3 million.

The Post story by David Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell focused on Doral’s revenue decline, noting this:

At Doral, which Trump has listed in federal disclosures as his biggest moneymaker hotel, room rates, banquets, golf and overall revenue were all down since 2015. In two years, the resort’s net operating income — a key figure, representing the amount left over after expenses are paid — had fallen by 69 percent.

You Could Have Watched Tiger Woods Play In A Major For $6 Today (Plus Service And Handling Fees)

GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall noted the incredibly small crowds for Bethpage practice rounds, a stunning contrast to 2018 at Bellerive where fans were lining fairways before the tournament even began.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, many of the holes boasted more volunteers than spectators, a sight especially true on the remote part—holes six through 12—of the property. A beverage vendor mentioned sales were "about 30 to 40 percent" off from their weekly forecast. And a fan noted on the fifth hole, “It’s more crowded out here on a normal Saturday.”

On Monday sports business writer Darren Rovell Tweeted about the low resale market prices, calling the lowest in recent major history. Make sure to read the replies if you want a laugh or insight into how the New York market sees things.

A study of StubHub showed $6 prices Wednesday morning. Surely that would not happen again Thursday?

Despite Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka going out early in absolutely perfect first round weather, the resellers were giving tickets away again for round one. The Forecaddie says by sometime around 9 am, the price had dropped from a low of $16 to $6, not including handling fees (around $6). Large chunks of tickets were available for prices in the single digits.

Prices are higher for the remaining three days, but well under the $110 face value for general admission.

In February, the PGA of America touted robust, near-sellout situation, then CEO Seth Waugh touted a boost to sales after Tiger’s Masters win.

The Man Who Saved Bethpage's Major Venue Status Isn't Here

Former PGA President Ted Bishop is given his rightful credit for his role in the idea to bring the PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup to Bethpage Black after the USGA had decided to pass on future U.S. Opens here. Former PGA CEO Pete Bevacqua and his team also deserve credit for getting the deal done, but as Herrmann writes, the idea started with Bishop:

Bishop was the PGA of America’s secretary, in line to be president, in September 2010 when he met at the park with state officials. The U.S. Golf Association had given up on Bethpage after two rain-drenched U.S. Opens. The PGA Tour had yet to hold its two FedEx Cup playoff events there (which turned out to be poorly attended).

“The future of championships at Bethpage, at the point we started talking, was obviously in doubt,” Bishop said from The Legends, the club in Franklin, Indiana, that he runs, serves as head pro and now is superintendent, too. “I knew about the concerns that everybody who loves Bethpage had, with funding and maintaining conditions going forward.”

Despite the USGA having pulled out, Bishop chose to dive in. His confidence was confirmed during a practice round for the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales, when he was on the 18th fairway with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler. “Just out of the blue,” he said, “they started talking about Ryder Cup venues and Phil says to Fowler, 'Can you imagine the home course advantage that we would have if they ever played this Ryder Cup at Bethpage.' "

The piece goes on to explain why Bishop isn’t here this week—hint, hint, the hard working PGA Board of Directors stripped him of his PGA status and celebrated the brilliant idea to return to Bethpage with some Hampton’s golf.

Must Be Nice Files: PGA CEO, Board Of Directors Tees It Up At NGLA On Championship Eve

Either things are running so smoothly at your first major in May in ages or the leadership really isn’t needed at all. But it’s still quite a look to have the CEO and Board off in the Hamptons for some golf and lobster while the PGA is at Bethpage . That’s what The Forecaddie says the PGA Board of Directors, including president Suzy Whaley, were able to do on Wednesday of the PGA Championship.

How important was this outing? The organization even moved their traditional Wednesday press conference to Tuesday just for some NGLA golf. President Suzy Whaley posted images from this important off-site executive time session.

Roundup: Best Of 2019 PGA Championship Merchandise

The warning sign is big here at Bethpage!

That said, I was prepared to be tired of it and was pleased to note the companies that made good use of it in various items for this Golfweek slideshow. Enjoy!

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Warning! The sign is everywhere but well handled by 2019 PGA merchandise vendors. My wrap up is at Golfweek.com. Some of my favorites are here though...

A post shared by Geoff Shackelford (@geoffshac) on May 15, 2019 at 1:35pm PDT

Video: A Look At Bethpage's Rough For The 2019 PGA

It’s tough, it’s dense but there are spots where you might catch a break. In this Golfweek video, I explain some of the elements players will find off the tee and around Bethpage Black’s greens for the 2019 PGA Championship:

PGA: Will Tepid Tuesday Give Way To A Wacky Wednesday?

It’s a sad state of affairs when John Daly’s cart controversy is coming up in press conferences, but with bleak weather, only part of the field even teeing up and the trend continuing for dull major early week festivities, I vented a touch for Golfweek. Not that I blame players for doing most of their work early and saving energy, but the lack of energy early in weeks is a bummer for fans and for building interest in the events.

Vide: A.W. Tillinghast, The PGA (Of America) "Tour" Years

While the return to Bethpage brings up mixed emotions for A.W. Tillinghast fans, there is little doubt about his influence over the Black course and hundreds of courses across the United States. And Tillinghast’s mid-1930’s work, a lifeline of sorts from the PGA of America’s George Jacobus that turned into an incredible project, plus his late years in obscurity, were the subject of our focus for this Golf Channel feature.

The piece first aired Monday on Live From The PGA, so if you missed it, here’s an encore presentation (also embedded in the righthand column). A special thanks to Dominic Dastoli for a fine producing and supervising effort, and to the PGA of America’s Bob Denney and Dr. Tony Parker for helping us tell the Tillinghast story. And a special thank you to Jim Nantz and Jack Whitaker. Jim for helping us contact the broadcasting legend, and to Mr. Whitaker for becoming the voice of A.W. Tilinghast for us. Tillinghast and Whitaker, two of Philadelphia’s grandest contributions to the game!