When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Two of the world's great fake blonds have issues again. As Ian Poulter rushed to play 17 and 18 today as any sane golfer would do to grab another few hours of sleep, NBC's Johnny Miller and Gary Koch both expressed mild disdain for Poulter's antics.
Alex Myers has the full report here.
When Poulter later found out that Johnny was questioning his move, the Brit took to Twitter to fire back at Johnny!
Zing!
You may recall these two went at it over Poulter's ball striking and Johnny's putting last year.
For Immediate Release...
GOLF CHANNEL ANNOUNCES GROUND-BREAKING ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING IRREPRESSIBLE SPORTS PERSONALITY DAVID FEHERTY
FEHERTY
12-Part Series Features Personal Stories, Clever Observations and Captivating Interviews with the Man Known for his Inimitable Style and Witty Golf Commentary
Feherty Premieres Week of June 20
ORLANDO, Fla. (May 9, 2011) – One of the most recognizable and unique personalities in sports, David Feherty – a 14-year veteran of CBS Sports – is bringing his unmistakable wit to Golf Channel with the all-new, prime-time series Feherty, currently in production and debuting the week of June 20, following the playing of the U.S. Open near the nation’s capitol.
Feherty is the first original Golf Channel series created since the golf cable network became a member of the NBC Sports Group following the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction in January.
No topic is off limits in this 12-part series which will share revealing interviews with well-known personalities from all walks of life – from sports to entertainment to politics – along with unique stories and anecdotes from the brilliant yet zany mind of David Feherty.
And skipping through the bio stuff:
“This show is something I’ve always wanted to do, and I'm glad it’s found a home at Golf Channel,” Feherty said. “I’m really overjoyed, so much so that I may have to cheer down, rather than up. I think I'm tri-polar.”
Surrounding the interview in each 30-minute episode, Feherty will share never-before-heard stories about the sport and the personalities that play it as well as poignant and humorous observations on the peculiarities of life. The series is being shot both in studio and on location with interviews taking place across the country.
There hasn't been much buzz about this year's golf Hall class for a few reasons, most notably that an active player (Ernie Els) is the headliner while two others (Jumbo Ozaki and George Bush) are less than ideal inductees who are not appearing to accept their place in golf's impressive shrine. Here is the entire group courtesy of a nice PGATour.com synopsis page.
Also, Deane Beman (with Adam Schupak's help) pens a My Shot this week for SI on inductee Frank Chirkinian, writing this about the legendary CBS producers' skill:
If you watched the Masters on CBS this year you saw Frank's artistic legacy. Tiger's tournament hinged on his putter at the 12th on Sunday. CBS got that. It wasn't that he had to make his birdie putt, it was that he couldn't miss the second putt, for par, which is what he did. He needed to step on the 13th tee feeling confident, make the birdie there, on the short par-5, and he didn't do that either. CBS showed all of that. A good broadcast paints the picture of how a player builds a round, or dismantles it for that matter. That's why Chirkinian showed fewer players making more shots. When golf is good on TV now, it's when producers follow Chirkinian's example.
You can read ESPN EVP Norby Williamson's blog post here on the new policy banning talent endorsement deals related to equipment and apparel in any way tied to the sports ESPN covers. From Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News:
On the ESPN corporate blog, Williamson also wrote the move comes after "some recent fair public criticism focused on select ESPN commentators" and ESPN also will be more transparent by reporting all of its broadcasters' endorsement deals on ESPN.com. The decision also will end Scott Van Pelt's relationship with Titleist, and a Nike deal with "College GameDay" crew Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso.
Will CBS and NBC follow suit?
I also wonder how ESPN will deal with this during the Masters next year when another network's announcers broadcast the event for them?
You know it's a dark day when David Feherty is using MBA jargon...or whoever wrote the quote for him in this announcement that he's joining the Lifestyle Asset Group as an advisor.
"My wife, Anita, and I have known Rich Keith and his group for years," Feherty explained. "We've had the privilege of vacationing at two of the properties that are currently in the Lifestyle Asset Group portfolio -- Deer Valley, Utah and Casa Luz in Los Cabos -- and they are two of our favorite vacation homes that we've ever stayed in. With many resorts with golf in their plans, and many of their customers passionate about the game, I hope to bring a lot of value to the brand with my insights and contacts."
Technically it was the first ever WGC Cadillac Championship, but alright, have your fun...
Golf Channel’s 1st Round Coverage on Thursday is Best in 23-Year TV History of Doral Event
Two-Day Average Viewership on Golf Channel Best in Nearly a Decade“Golf Channel on NBC” Final Round Viewership Up 16%
I say that last one is caused by the massive Golf Channel audience tuning in network coverage they never would have watched before cross-prioritization!
NEW YORK – March 15, 2011 – NBC Sports Group set viewership records for its coverage of the WGC-Cadillac Championship, with Thursday’s coverage on Golf Channel the most-watched first-round in the history of the Doral event and the two-day (Thursday-Friday) average viewership the best since 2002. Additionally, the final-round viewership on Sunday for “Golf Channel on NBC” rose 16 percent from last year, according to official national data released by The Nielsen Company.
Golf Channel drew 1.14 million viewers for Thursday’ first round, the most in Doral’s 23-year television history (2007-2011 on Golf Channel, 1989-2006 on USA). This also marked a 115-percent jump from last year’s first round and an increase of 25 percent over 2009.
Thank you Phil and Tiger pairing!
Golf Channel averaged 1.07 million viewers for Thursday and Friday combined marking the best two-day viewership average for the Doral event since 2002 on USA (1.09 million).
36 FOR 36: The WGC-Cadillac Championship continued Golf Channel’s streak of delivering higher ratings for every PGA TOUR round this year (36 for 36) versus comparable rounds in 2010.
It must be the all the promos they run on Hoop Dreams or Pipe Dreams or Dreaming Of A Pipe or whatever it's called.
“GOLF CHANNEL ON NBC” VIEWERSHIP: The final-round coverage on NBC (3:09-7 p.m. Sunday), which has been rebranded as “Golf Channel on NBC,” averaged 3.32 million viewers, a gain of 14 percent from last year’s 2.86 million viewers.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
