Tag Archives: golf

Watch Tiger Woods’ last interview with CNBC for a while; different from Bartiromo than Rovell

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I’m pretty sure Tiger Woods won’t be popping up on CNBC any time soon. His recent appearance in an “exclusive” interview with Maria Bartiromo was awkward to say the least.

Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg always has liked having his client appear on CNBC. He viewed it as a great way for Woods to reach corporate America.

Last November, Steinberg arranged for CNBC’s Darren Rovell to interview Woods live in Florida. Now Woods gives put exclusive live interviews almost as much as he gives reporters his cell phone number. So clearly Steinberg had an agenda here.

Of course! They discussed Woods’ endorsement of Fuse Science, which has something to do with energy and performance. Note that Rovell said it was “an equity deal” in prefacing a question to Woods.

Rovell said, “This is an equity deal. Would you have done an endorsement deal like this two or three years ago?”

Woods merrily said yes.

Well, Rovell has moved on to ESPN. So when the former world No. 1 went for another Fuse hit on CNBC Tuesday, the interview duties were handled by Bartiromo.

The end result probably didn’t go as planned for the Woods camp. Bartiromo’s first question was, “What are your financial interests in the company?”

Woods danced around the question.

Bartiromo then asked again, “Do you have an ownership in the company, Tiger?”

Woods declined to answer even though Rovell noted in the November interview that he had an equity stake. To be fair, I’m not sure why Woods couldn’t admit he owns part of the company.

Later, Bartiromo tried to compare Lance Armstrong’s situation to Woods’, at least as far as endorsements are concerned. Totally different situation: Armstrong cheated in his sport; Woods cheated on his wife. Armstrong is finished as an athlete and an endorser; Woods still is performing and winning again and getting endorsements.

Woods took out his tap shoes again and danced around the Armstrong question as best he could. You could feel Steinberg cringing in the background. The last thing he wanted was for his client to be dragged into a discussion about Armstrong.

Then Bartiromo asked why Woods wasn’t winning more majors. Woods had to remind her that he won three times in 2012 and that he still has plenty of golf left in him at age 36.

All in all, probably CNBC’s last “exclusive” with Woods for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

Post-Ryder Cup press conference an embarrassment for golf; winners too far into ‘celebration’

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For a sport that guards its image with such zeal, you have to wonder why golf allows the Ryder Cup press conference for the winners to resemble a college frat party.

Sunday, the comeback Europeans seemed to be intoxicated with more than victory when they finally met the media at Medinah Country Club. In fact, they made no effort to hide it, with Sergio Garcia passing along beers to his mates. At one point, he even spit out some brew while trying to take a gulp. Lovely.

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood was making siren noises and interrupting his fellow players. It appeared he was well into his enjoyment of the victory.

Now, I’m not advocating Prohibition here, but you tend to view things differently when you have two high school age boys. You become more sensitive to scenes of big-name athletes drinking on television.

The problem is the timing of the press conference. The players didn’t come in until after 8 p.m. Central, more than three hours after Martin Kaymer made the clinching putt.

They had their wild celebration in front of the fans, spraying and drinking Moet. Garcia was swilling it as if the champagne were Gatorade on a 95-degree day.

You only could assume the party continued as the players dressed for the closing ceremonies. Then the Europeans waited even longer while the glum Americans appeared first in the media room. More time to “celebrate.”

Finally, it was Europe’s turn for a session that aired live on the Golf Channel.

Name me another sports where the winners do a formal session with the press three hours after the end of game? If they did, you would get the same type of sloppy scene from the World Series and Super Bowl champions. And I shudder to think what it would be like for the Stanley Cup champions.

The closing ceremony for the Ryder Cup does complicate matters, as far as doing a press conference right away. I don’t know what the solution is. That’s for others to figure out.

However, I do know that golf goes to such great effort to present their players in the best light possible. That didn’t occur for the victorious Europeans Sunday, and it was embarrassing for the game.

Their press conference belonged in a pub, not the media center.

******

The press conference for the Ryder Cup loser is easily the most awkward in sports. All 12 players, plus the captain, appear together, seated across a large table.

The set up creates a situation in the players who sucked have to answers about why they sucked in front of their teammates. It couldn’t have been easy for proud veterans like Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker to explain their shortcomings during this Ryder Cup with the rest of Team USA looking on.

Officials should examine this format too.

 

 

 

Feherty, former European Ryder Cup player, will be rooting for U.S.

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David Feherty grew up in Northern Ireland and was a member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 1991.

So naturally, Feherty said he will be rooting for the U.S. during the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

Actually, it makes sense. Feherty, a resident of Dallas, loves the United States so much, he became an American citizen. When he’s not working, which nearly is all the time, he spends countless hours with wounded veterans.

Said Feherty of his choice and how it would go with his good friend, Sam Torrance, Europe’s captain in 2002:

Well, to be honest, I’ve been leaning in that direction for quite a while now.  You know, since my first visit toIraqback in 2006, I’ve felt like ‑‑ well, that was the instant that I knew I had to be an American.  I’d wanted to be one for a while, but my wife had always wanted to be married to an Irishman, and I wasn’t going to win that argument.

But she knew things had changed for me when I came back from down range there with our armed forces.

Sam was fine.  He knows.  He’s the greatest friend I’ve ever had, and he knows that I’m an American.  Yeah, he gave me a hard time afterwards, and he’ll give me a hard time again most of the week, but that’s what you expect from your friends.  If he were kind to me about it or say, you know, hey, I understand, I’d be seriously worried.  There’s a plot going on somewhere.

 

Saturday flashback: Sergio’s tree shot at Medinah

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Sergio Garcia returns to Medinah Country Club next week for the Ryder Cup.

It is fitting that he qualified for the European team because Medinah was the scene of his most famous shot. During the 1999 PGA Championship, the 19-year old found his ball up against a tree on the 16th hole.

He closed his eyes and….

By the way, Garcia won’t find the tree for his return trip to Medinah. It died a few years ago. However, the memories remain.

My first job: David Feherty trades clubs for microphone at age 37

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David Feherty will be in my town next week for the Ryder Cup at Medinah. Among his many duties for the Golf Channel will be doing a special Chicago-edition of Feherty Live with Michael Phelps among the guests. It will air Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.

Feherty usually pokes fun at his game, or lack thereof. However, he was a member of the 1991 European Ryder Cup team and had three top 7 finishes in majors, which meant he was a pretty good player in his day.

Feherty, though, decided to walk away from the game at the relatively young age of 37. In my special feature looking at people’s first job in the business, he discusses why he took up CBS on their offer to become an on-course analyst in 1996.

Here’s David:

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I was standing at the bar at Akron, Ohio. I had won some tournament in a communist country and qualified for the World Series of Golf. I was drinking vodka and Gatorade because I still was an athlete. I was approached by two gentleman who said they were from CBS. Immediately, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is 60 Minutes.’ I was drinking so heavily and hooked on narcotics and painkillers. I thought they’ve been through my room and found the stash.

They said they just lost Ben Wright and were looking for someone to report from the fairway. And they said I knew the players and knew the caddies. I’m thinking, ‘I know the caddies alright.’

It quickly occurred to me, ‘Wait a minute, they’re offering me a job?’ Then they told me how much they were going to pay me and I said, ‘Do you want to buy a set of clubs?’

I was 37 and I knew these jobs don’t come around very often, and I knew it was something I wanted to do. I thought, ‘Well hell, I’ll take a crack at that.’

On his first tournament: I worked the PGA Championship that year. I played a limited on-course role. I was very nervous. I had to wipe my ass with my microphone shield that particular tournament, as I recall. I wasn’t sure when I should speak and when I shouldn’t.

I just knew where I should be. As a player, I knew how close I should get. The caddies knew me and I got information from them that people hadn’t been getting before. What clubs and exact yardages? I sort of fell into it. I got it very quickly.

On transition from player to broadcaster: There was a period of time for the trust factor to mature. I went so quickly from being a player to broadcaster, there was a little confusion at first. But the players immediately knew I wasn’t just an ordinary journalist. I was a player. I wasn’t going to move my eyelashes. I was a piece of furniture that they knew wasn’t going to be a problem to them. I had that advantage.

 

Agree? CBS’ McManus and Barrow not concerned about slow play in golf

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Slow play has been a big issue in golf this year.

Listeners to my Saturday morning golf talk radio show on WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago know I hate slow play worse than taking four shots out of a bunker. Believe me, that’s not an unusual occurrence during one of my rounds.

The biggest slow-play culprits are the pros, some of whom have turned the game into a molasses fest.

The gridlock pace could get really bad at this week’s PGA Championship. If Pete Dye’s Kiawah course plays extremely difficult as forecast, the potential is there for marathon rounds.

During a conference call, I asked CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus and golf producer Lance Barrow if they were concerned about slow play this week, and golf in general. To my surprise, they weren’t.

McManus:

 I’m not terribly concerned about it. Having watched a lot of golf this year, I know (slow play) has been a topic of discussion. But I haven’t seen it affect too many of the broadcasts. If they play slow because of the course conditions being tough at Kiawah, it adds to the drama.

Barrow:

 I know about what happened with Kevin Na (struggling to pull the trigger at the Players Championship). But I haven’t seen tournaments where slow play has been an issue.

It’s amazing when we have to finish at 6 or 7 (ET) how close they come to hitting that time. A lot of things come into play why players play slowly or quickly. I think a lot has to do with the weather. The wind will be a factor here, but I don’t worry about slow play.

You know when you go in, Keegan Bradley and Jim Furyk (part of the final pairing last Sunday) are not quick players. But you know their mannerisms. You can go to another hole and get another player.

Now, I respect both men and have been a long-time fan of Barrow. But I disagree with them here.

It routinely takes threesomes five hours or more complete a round during a tournament. Is that exciting to watch?

I remember they used to figure 3:50 for the final pairing way back when. Not anymore. It’s in the 4:20-4:30 range for a twosome that’s in contention during the weekend.

Does that make for good television? It’s like watching a movie. A good film at two hours will feel like it is dragging at 2:45.

Let’s hear from somebody other than me.

Earlier in the year, Annika Sorenstam said,  “You watch golf on TV, and it’s very slow.  It’s not moving.”

NBC’s Dottie Pepper was more blunt in her assessment.

“I think the PGA Tour is burying their head in the sand,” Pepper told USA  TODAY Sports. “The PGA Tour has more potential to change the pace of  play because they have more eyeballs on them day in, day out than any of  the other organizations, and they are the ones that can take the lead  on this.”

Pepper then said: “Nobody wins when play is slow.”

I think that’s my new slogan for golf.

For more on how slow play is ruining golf, check out GeoffShackelford.com. He’s got an entire file on the issue.

 

 

 

 

ESPN happy to put own stamp on British Open; legendary Alliss returns

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It’s been five years since I covered my last British Open. And I truly miss it, more so than anything else I covered in 27 years at the Chicago Tribune.

I loved everything about being over for the Open Championship (the proper name). There’s nothing like quirkiness of links golf. In fact, everything about the experience was quirky; from the food (yes to brown sauce) to the ridiculously small showers to summer temperatures in the 40s and 50s with a damp chill that goes right through you.

I’ll definitely be watching ESPN’s coverage, although I can’t say I’ll be awake for the opening shot Thursday. Network coverage begins at 4:30 a.m. (ET), meaning night owls on the West Coast can tune before they go to sleep.

In previous years, ESPN and ABC had to rely mainly on the BBC for its coverage. Again, think quirky, as the BBC pace is much slower.

Mike Tirico likened the experience to “playing with rented clubs.” If you’re a golfer, you know what that means.

However, ESPN has had its own cameras in place since 2009; the BBC will be available to supplement anything that gets missed. It has made a huge difference in the production.

I had a chance to talk to Mike McQuade, ESPN’s vice-president for event production, about covering the tournament and having 81-year-old legend Peter Alliss back as a contributor.

On the difference between ESPN and BBC coverage:

We cover golf differently than the way the BBC does it, from where the camera angles are to the storylines. It’s an American broadcast. It moves quicker. The big difference will be on Thursday and Friday. There are so many more storylines. While they might want to focus on some Englishman trying to make the cut, we’d rather focus on Phil Mickelson.

On the difference between covering a PGA Tour event in the states and a British Open:

Besides the fact that when it rains everyone is wearing a black rain suit and a hat and you can’t tell anybody from anybody, that’s a big problem.

The wind is always an issue.  Trying to follow the ball in conditions like that is an issue.  Telling Andy North he’s got to walk in the rain for eight hours could be an issue.

I think at this point we’re sort of used to that.  I think the one thing that we’ve tried to do to sort of overcome all of this is this Flight Tracker that we’ve used the last couple of years, and this year I think it’s on six different holes, that really allows the viewer to ‑‑ if the skies are gray and it is tough to follow a ball in gray and white skies, the tracker will at least give you a sense of where the ball is headed and the direction it’s going in.

On Peter Alliss being part of the telecast:

In our mind, he symbolizes the Open Championship. He’s been a part of it for the better part of 60 years. When you have someone that iconic, it goes without saying you take advantage of it. He offers perspective and insights that I think our guys may not be as quick to grasp on to. That’s a good thing. It makes us better.

Here’s Andy North on Alliss.

Peter is one of those few individuals that you come across in life that if you open up the New York telephone book and had him read six or seven pages you’d be enthralled by it.  He is one of those gifted people that is so much fun to be around, and Curtis (Strange) and I have the great opportunity to work the week following the Open Championship at the Senior British Open Championship.  It is a riot.

 

 

 

 

Damon Hack leaves Sports Illustrated to join Golf Channel

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Damon Hack had a great gig. It doesn’t get much better than covering the NFL and golf for Sports Illustrated.

However despite a professional career as a sportswriter, Hack always wanted to get back to the broadcast side. Monday, the Golf Channel offered him the opportunity.

From the network:

He will serve as a “Golf Channel Insider” for the network’s news programming, including Morning Drive and Golf Central, and as a senior writer for GolfChannel.com. He also will be seen occasionally on NBC Sports Network, reporting golf.

I covered a few golf tournaments with Hack during the day. So naturally, I had to give him Monday grief when he mentioned he had “a broadcast agent.” Don’t get too big, big guy.

Actually, the Golf Channel opportunity came somewhat out of the blue. A few weeks ago, he served as a substitute host for Morning Drive. Apparently, he did a good job.

A subsequent GC offer coincided with Sports Illustrated looking for staff to take buyouts. So Hack even got a nice going-away prize.

“When it all came together, we thought, ‘Maybe this is a sign we should do something different,'” Hack said.

Even though Hack has spent 18 years as a sportswriter, he studied broadcasting as an undergrad at UCLA.

“I wanted to be the next Chick Hearn or Vin Scully,” he said. “I always had a quiet dream to do broadcasting, and golf is my favorite sport to cover. It couldn’t work out any better.”

Hack said his exact TV role has yet to be defined. The GC still hasn’t named a permanent co-host to join Gary Williams for Morning Drive.

Would Hack be interested?

“Definitely,” he said. “That would be great. I had a lot of fun doing the show. I think the plan for now is to get me down there and see where I fit.”

The GC also hired Ryan Burr from ESPN as an anchor for Golf Central.

 

 

 

Golf: Woods didn’t appreciate constant questions about his game; Sorenstam says slow play hurting golf on TV

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Now that Tiger Woods is back on top (with the exception of not winning a major since 2008), he likely won’t be hearing as many questions about the state of his game.

It doesn’t take much to annoy Woods. He admitted this week he didn’t enjoy questions from those pesky reporters asking why he no longer resembled Tiger Woods on the course during last two-plus years.

“I have to deal with it in every single press conference,” he said. “I have to  answer it in post-round interviews—whether it’s with you guys or in a live shot  [on TV]. You do that for a couple of years, sometimes you guys can be a little annoying.”

If anything, Woods used all the negative stories as motivation, according to his good friend Notah Begay. Appearing on the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive, Begay said:

He doesn’t forget what people write. He probably has a list under his pillow that motivates him at night.

Indeed, from what I’ve heard, few players are more possessed about what’s written about them than Woods.

As for those pesky questions about his game, they won’t go away entirely. The British Open is in a couple of weeks. He’s going to hear plenty of questions along the lines of, “Tiger, why can’t you win in majors anymore?”

******

I’m still amazed that the leaders of the PGA and LPGA Tour aren’t doing more to curb slow play. The snail’s pace is making the sport absolutely dreadful to watch on TV.

The slow-play problem came up Wednesday during a Golf Channel State of the Game show prior to the U.S. Women’s Open. Host Rich Lerner asked Annika Sorenstam why it is an important issue? Sorenstam said:

I think for a lot of reasons.  You watch golf on TV, and it’s very slow.  It’s not moving.  I know that a lot of golfers are leaving the game because it takes too long to play.  I think as a professional we need to be role models and we need to show them you can play, and I think it’s hurting the game, I really do.

NBC’s Dottie Pepper, who also appeared on the telecast, is in favor of stroke penalties being assessed for slow play. She said:

In my mind it’s the thing that hurts most.  It’s the one thing that really gets you, it’s not in your pocket, it’s on your scorecard.

All I can say is that something needs to be done about slow play. And fast.

 

 

 

 

Ratings report: Despite Tiger struggles, U.S. Open still up; another big number for Game 3

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Ah, what might have been for NBC and the U.S. Open. Imagine the rating if Tiger Woods actually had resembled Tiger Woods Sunday. Instead, his brutal start had him on the missing person’s report during the meat of the coverage.

As a result, we got a heavy dose of the plodding Jim Furyk and a U.S. Open where par was indeed a good score. It didn’t necessarily add up to compelling golf, but thanks to the primetime window, people still tuned in.

The numbers from NBC:

Sunday’s 6.5-hour (4-10:30 p.m. ET) final-round coverage of the U.S. Open on NBC delivered an 6.6 rating and 13 share, up 29% vs. last year (5.1/12).

The combined Saturday-Sunday overnight was a 6.1/13, up 39 % vs. last year (4.4/11) and the best since 2008 (6.8/15).

Despite competition from the NBA Finals, the rating increased every half hour from 8:30 p.m. ET on, peaking at an 8.1 from 10-10:30 p.m. ET. From 7 p.m. ET on, the rating never dipped below a 6.9.

Yes, there was a finals game last night. Another big number for game 3 on ABC.

From ESPN:

Through three games, the 2012 NBA Finals on ABC – Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder – is the highest-rated series since 2004 and the second highest-rated ever on ABC based on overnight ratings, according to Nielsen. The Finals is averaging an 11.3 overnight rating, up 5 percent from a 10.8 last year (Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat).

NBA Finals Game 3 – Miami defeated Oklahoma City 91-85 – generated a 10.4 overnight rating, peaking with a 14.7 rating from 10:30 to 10:45 p.m. ET. The game generated a 41.9 rating in Oklahoma City and a 29.6 rating in Miami.