ESPN Starting Two Hours Early With Split-Tee Open Start

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Thanks to this Tweet from Andy Hall at ESPN we know of the network's plans for what figures to be a long day at Royal Liverpool. Nice pivot by the Worldwide Leader to accommodate Saturday's unprecedented, forecast-driven two-tee threesomes planned start from 9 am to 11 am BST.

 

Back9 Prez: We're E! To Golf Channel's ABC

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Pete Finch talks to Back9Network president Carlos Silva after the announcement of DirecTV deal that will get the golf lifestyle network launched.

One of their three shows planned sounds appealing. Batting .333 isn't all bad.

The three shows that we’ve talked about for the launch are “The Ahmad Rashad Show,” a show called “Ball Hog,” which is about a company that actually dives into the ponds or lakes at golf courses and reclaims golf balls as a business, and another show called “Golf Treasures,” which is a couple of guys who have an auction house that is in the business of acquiring historical golf artifacts.

And regarding Golf Channel, this sounded logical:

Q. Do you view Back9Network as a competitor to Golf Channel?

We really see us as a complement. One of the comparisons I like to use is E! Entertainment at the Oscars. They do the on-ramp and off-ramp to the Oscars, but the live show is on ABC. We feel there are a lot of complements to being that on- and off-ramp to the live game -- being able to feel like you were at Pinehurst even though you may never get to go to a U.S. Open. What’s it like to be at U.S. Open? What’s the town like? What are the restaurants like? What’s the travel like? How are the players getting in and out? Where are they staying? What’s the feeling like when you’re there during tournament week? That’s a lot of what will be on the Back9Network.

NBC 69 Of 69 In Martin Kaymer Shots Shown Sunday

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Talk about German engineering! (Sam Weinman reviews the various references to the German engineering in the post-Kaymer U.S. Open win here).

Impressive balance by NBC as noted by Classic TV Sports, which tabulated the distribution of leader shots shown by the network during the U.S. Open final round.

All 69 of Kaymer's shots were shown, but more interesting was the balance of leaders and their place on the leaderboard.