ESPN Day 1 Masters Ratings Up 10 Percent

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For Immediate Release...

ESPN’s live telecast of the first round of the 2012 Masters Tournament on Thursday, April 5, averaged 2,661,000 viewers with a 2.3 household coverage rating based on fast nationals, according to the Nielsen Company.
 
The rating was an increase of 10 percent from last year’s first round, which earned a 2.1 rating. Viewership was up four percent over last year’s 2,550,000 average.

Jack, Arnold, Gary: Vital To Slow Down The Ball!

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The honorary starters moment with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer was as goose bump inducing in person as you'd expect (Dave Kindred's take here), and just as good was the 35-minute press session where the three legends took press questions. Among the spectators in the room were USGA Executive Committee members and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. Not that any of them will do anything!

Asked about the state of the game and growing golf...

First, a fun story and the rare bad word from The King...

JACK NICKLAUS:  We were going to be 35 and we weren't going to play anymore.  But you said, "No, that's not me.  I'm going to keep playing."

ARNOLD PALMER:  That's right.  You guys kept saying you were going to quit at 35.  I said, Bullshit  (Laughter).  No more thoughts of quitting at 35 than ‑‑

JACK NICKLAUS:  82.

ARNOLD PALMER:  Hey, if I could do it, I would be doing it right now.
   
JACK NICKLAUS:  I think we all would.
   
GARY PLAYER:  I'd like to enlarge on that, because both Jack and I said we were retiring at 35, we had won the Grand Slam and that was it, we had enough.
   
And Arnold said, "Well, I'm going on forever."
   
And Then we walked in there when we were both 60, and Arnold said, "Is this a mirage?  Both here at the age of 60?"  And now I'm 70 and more.

And about the golf ball...starting with Player.

ll they had to do was let the technology go with the average golfer, that's fantastic.  But with professional golfers we have not seen big men come into this game yet.  We are going to see the Michael Jordans and the likes come into golf, and they are already hitting drives 400 yards.  They're going to be hitting it so far, it's frightening.

What's going to happen to the golf course?  Are they going to make them longer?  We can't go back on the streets anymore here.  So they are going to have to slow the ball down for professional golf at some time or other in the future.

Otherwise, I don't know what's going to happen to all these golf courses.  Are we going to spend more money on it?  And that's where Jack and I agree; the expenses, the costs, we have to take that into consideration.

JACK NICKLAUS:  The equipment, the ball is one single factor that's caused a lot of what we have.

ARNOLD PALMER:  And I agree with that.  I think that's vital that we slow the ball down.

JACK NICKLAUS:  I think that we all know that you can't really change the game from what it is today.  That would be like asking the kids today to go back to wood clubs, and it would be like when we played, asking to go back to wood shafts.  And I know the game changes.

The game today is a wonderful game.  There's nothing wrong with the game today as it relates to tournament golf.  There's nothing wrong with it when we played.  But it's just a different game.  And the game that when we played, it was very relevant to the pro and the amateur had a game that they could play together.  They could go play a Pro‑Am, and we would be 20 yards behind them and we would end up in relatively the same area on the tee shots and you could have a conversation.

Today, you know, the average golfer cannot relate to the pro.  The pro is a hundred yards behind him.  And by the time the pro gets there, they've all hit off the tee.  It's a very different game.  It takes too long.

Obsolescence of the golf courses; we have, I don't know, 17,000 or 18,000 golf courses in the United States, which this is probably the only golf course in the country that is probably up‑to‑date as it relates to tournament golf.  And what have they spent here?  They have spent a fortune.  And can you ask everybody to spend a fortune?  No.  Golf ball is a very inexpensive thing to fix.

Player on today's youth:

GARY PLAYER:  I think that there should be, which I think is a vital ingredient in one's life, a sense of gratitude and we must never forget where we came from and how we started, and what this tournament has done for us in our lives.

I think one of the great difficulties that we are encountering in the world today with young people is entitlement.  There's no such damn thing as entitlement.  You have to work for what you get today. 

My question...

Q.  You talked about technology.  At the tournament level, do you believe today's technology makes it harder for a truly exceptional player to differentiate himself from a merely great player?

JACK NICKLAUS:  Not really.  I think the exceptional player always separates himself.  I think for the last ten, 12, 15 years, Tiger has separated himself pretty well with the same equipment.

It's all ‑‑ no matter how good the equipment is, you've still got to get it in the hole.  And the guy that gets it in the hole a little bit better usually ends up winning the golf tournament.  That's basically what it is.

GARY PLAYER:  And you can talk about all of the equipment and you hear so much about long hitting, but there are lots of long hitters that are not winning golf tournaments.

And I can tell you one thing, the reason that Tiger Woods has been the best player in the world for X amount of years, because he's the best putter.

JACK NICKLAUS:  I don't care what he tells you.  He's still the best putter.  (Laughter).

Mitt Romney: "If I could run Augusta...of course I'd have women."

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From the AP...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Obama's likely challenger in the fall, said "of course" he would allow women in "if I could run Augusta."

"Of course. I am not a member of Augusta. I don't know if I would qualify. My golf game is not that good," Romney told reporters as he chatted with supporters after a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. "If I could run Augusta, which isn't likely to happen, of course I'd have women."

Obama Believes Augusta National Should Admit Women, But Up To Club To Decide

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Shawna Thomas on today's White House press briefing where press secretary Jay Carney was asked about Augusta National's membership stance on women.

When asked by a reporter during Thursday's White House briefing whether the all-male golf club should admit women, White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "Well the president's answer to this question is yes. He believes, his personal opinion is that women should be admitted."

"I happened to have a discussion with him about this, so I know that that's his answer," Carney added. "It's obviously up to the club to decide. But his personal opinion is that women should be admitted to the club."

Reminder: Your Masters.com And ESPN TV Schedule

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With all of the dreaded "platforms," it can get a little confusing. Here is ESPN's coverage

And the splendid Masters.com times, with featured groups, Amen Corner Live.

LIVE COVERAGE ON MASTERS.COM

10:45 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Amen Corner live video coverage

11:45 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Hole Nos. 15 and 16 live video coverage

12:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Featured Group 1 live video coverage
Featured Group 2 live video coverage

3:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Masters In-Depth live video coverage highlights

MASTERS RADIO

2:00 p.m.
Masters Radio live audio