The Match Shows Golf Can Be Played Without Fans And Still Captivate
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I remain bullish on the idea of the Ryder Cup going forward this year as a tonic of sorts without huge galleries and instead focusing on a stripped-down competition. After The Match and those record-setting ratings, I’m even more confident that a fan-free (or very limited gathering) would be the right thing this year for the biennial matches.
The Match 2, Champions For Charity, confirmed that people will watch something with no fans. In record-setting numbers, actually.
Big caveat: this is as long as the lack of cheering is made up for with production values and other differentiating elements that take us inside the ropes. A day later, it’s clear this sense of tagging along with the group was why The Match worked despite the dreary day at a largely forgettable course free of fans: it felt like we were there, glitches and all.
Sally Jenkins wrote for the Washington Post about the fan-free element in a column headlined: “No crowds meant you could hear the players at the Match II, and some of it was revealing.”
She writes:
Still, it was tremendously entertaining — and informative — to listen to the one-upping asides and to watch the interplay among four men who have been famously buttoned-up competitors. And who normally show their personalities only in marketing campaigns.
Interestingly, you learned that even in a goofy golf situation and unshaven, Woods remains a fairly laconic and methodical sort. Whereas Mickelson, on the other hand, was a real surprise. You never knew he had quite this much effusiveness in him, with his almost epicurean love of a “tasty” contest on every hole. Mickelson’s willingness to explain and instruct the game — and his clear enthusiasm for doing so — was the highlight of the event. And it was something the PGA and networks should consider giving the audience a lot more of.
Uh, we can’t even get them to do a short interview so instruction out of players is unlikely, but certainly Sky has shown with its on-range instruction elements at majors, that there are ways to re-think the show. And with ratings like The Match delivered, it’s very easy to imagine how this might be a significant wake-up call in reconsidering how golf is broadcast.
**Charles Barkley discussed microphones on players during an appearance on Dan Patrick’s show Tuesday.
