USGA, Fox Sports And Rules Controversy-Induced Tension

Ron Sirak has followed up his Golf Digest coverage of Fox's USGA television contract with a new feature suggesting that two years into the $1.2 billion deal, there are "tensions" between the two sides.

The story is largely a business piece looking at a deal that is hemorrhaging money and not giving the USGA as much exposure as it sought. I'll do a post on the business side later, but for now the initial fascination lies in the suggestion that some of this tension was induced by Fox's handling of 2016's high-profile rules infractions.

You may recall that at the time, many of us noted that Fox excelled in the eyes of viewers by covering the Dustin Johnson (and later Anna Nordqvist) situations in very strong fashion. There was shrewd analysis, acknowledgement of player outrage and the overall madness of the situations.

But we've also known that the USGA Executive Committee types that sought the Fox partnership thought they were buying a partner who would coddle, nurture, massage and whitewash. Thankfully for viewers, that wasn't the case. Any questions about Fox's impartiality were tossed aside and the network came out of 2016 with enhanced credibility for having covered news as news.

The USGA should be happy that their partner was able to gain that credibility with viewers--a huge question mark raised by the original deal--and undoubtedly many within the organization felt this was positive. But when your Executive Committee has been overrun by a steady stream of Walter Driver-verified groupthinkers who fear the wrath of Sea Island, any impartiality by your partner amounts to subversive behavior.

Sirak writes:

Further complicating things between the USGA and Fox were the rules controversies. At Oakmont, Fox announcers were extremely critical of how the USGA handled what was eventually an after-the-fact penalty called against Johnson. And in the Women's Open at CordeValle, Fox aired a rules infraction by Anna Nordqvist in her playoff with Brittany Lang before USGA officials had a chance to examine the video, which, sources tell Golf Digest, angered some USGA insiders.

"Both organizations realize we could've provided more complete information in a more timely manner and explained our processes better," Mike Davis, executive director and CEO of the USGA, told Golf Digest. "In both cases, the USGA put a premium on gathering all the facts to make an informed decision for the competition first, and then relaying that information accurately to those who were watching. We have since enhanced those processes and will continue to improve them, so that everyone reporting, including Fox, can maintain journalistic integrity with the best expertise and knowledge we can offer."

Now that 18-2 will be softened with a Local Rule, the USGA and Fox should not have any issues. Except that we know the Nordqvist situation was different and raised by Fox almost immediately. Given that some of the confusion last year in both situations was caused by not having a more refined system for a USGA rules official to monitor the broadcast and rule on an infraction, television rightly went with analysis of whether a violation took place, leaving the USGA running behind.

As with Augusta National and the PGA Tour, will the USGA address this going forward? Otherwise, the possibility exists for more tension and embarrassment.