“If you look at where we are compared with other sports, we’re pretty far behind."

You can't say the Golf Channel isn't trying to make telecasts better. Besides unveiling a slick new graphics package this week that'll make network graphics look antiquated. And Doug Ferguson reports that they've been given permission by the Deathstar Ponte Vedra to mike players this week. Assuming they have any willing participants.

Jack Graham, executive producer for the Golf Channel, said it has been approved to put mikes on players for the year. The player must agree to wear the mike, and with two days left, it appears it might not happen at Kapalua.

Some players don’t want to do it. Others are interested, just not in the first tournament of the year. Graham said at some point he expects players will get comfortable with the idea.
But he believes it’s an idea long overdue.

“If you look at where we are compared with other sports, we’re pretty far behind,” he said.

Remember that boys when the networks don't want to pay as much as last time!

Meanwhile Ferguson buried this little eyebrow raiser about the tour's ability to shift pairings from the blind draw they've used for Thursdays and Fridays and which have (miraculously) never had Tiger and Phil playing in the same group:

Now, there will be some 20 featured players from the “A list” that can be moved around to accommodate television. That means certain players from that group would be chosen to tee off from No. 1 in the afternoon on Friday so Golf Channel could feature them on the back nine – where most of the TV towers are located – in the peak hours of the telecast.

It’s possible that one player could be pulled out of his group and placed in another group to create a story line. Slugger White, the vice president of rules and competition for the tour, said such movement would be rare.

Why is that I'm suspecting we won't see a Robert Allenby pairing shifted to include Anthony Kim, you know, for a storyline?