CBS Golf Coverage: A Follow-Up

If you're looking for some thoughts on Tiger's 12th major championship triumph, second major of 2006, and third straight win — stop reading. Every other golf columnist will be perfectly glad to discuss the subject in their writing. Rather, I'd like to write a follow-up column to some writing I did earlier in the year on CBS Sports' coverage of the PGA Tour.

In that column, I pretty much threw CBS under the bus for how they coverage golf. If I remember correctly, I said their coverage was boring, filled with statistical mistakes, and lacked innovation to make watching golf interesting for the normal consumer. I thought it might be worth it to review the coverage of the PGA Championship to see if some changes had been made and whether the telecasts were more interesting, the same, or worse.

There were a number of things that I enjoyed about this weekend's coverage. I liked the ultra-slow motion cameras that demonstrated how certain shots were executed or looked — such as bunker explosion shots, the bump and run, etc. While no average golfer has access to that kind of technology to make sure their short game mirrors the perfectly-executed shots demonstrated on the telecast, the cameras did offer a curious insight into how a golf shot really looks.

CBS was also not one to deny the significant changes made to Medinah No. 3 by Rees Jones. In demonstrating the layout of various holes on the course, the ole golf team pulled up the 1999 fly-bys to demonstrate the key changes made. It was critical for the average golf fan to see that Jones did more to the golf course than simply lengthen it into the record books.

Though Tiger dominated the tournament on the weekend, putting on a clinic for the ages, CBS did a pretty good job of giving the viewers access to the other competitors on the course. We actually got to see the battle for second place taking shape, and it was interesting to me. Of course, only a true golf nerd applauds for coverage of the battle to be first loser, but I think this validates the telecast and tournament in showing that there are other players out there vying for some serious money and recognition.

For as much as there has been some demonstrable improvement in CBS' golf coverage, there are still many issues that remain.

Lanny Wadkins just doesn't do it for me. He's a very skilled golfer and a seemingly nice guy, but he is absolutely the John Madden of golf coverage. His analysis is trite, shallow, and generally meaningless. It makes you long for Ken Venturi and his harsh commentary. While Ken was not always on the mark, hell, I usually disagreed with him, he did make poignant remarks that were interesting. Wadkins needs to bring more opinion, stronger analysis, and the sense that he is an insider to the telecasts. I'm certain he can do it, but he needs the push to make it happen. If he does not feel comfortable in that role, then bring Peter Kostis off of the course and put him in the booth.

Factual errors still plague the telecasts. There were probably a dozen times over the weekend that the announcers failed to correctly identify whether a putt was for par, bogey, or birdie. Even at times the crew did not even correctly report a player's score in relationship to par or in comparison to others on the leaderboard. There is no room for those kinds of lazy mistakes in a telecast of a major championship. Save that stuff for the events that no one watches.

I would like to see more graphical analysis of what is actually happening on the course in terms of strategy. The fly-by of a hole can only tell you so much about the strategy involved in playing that hole. Explain the slope of the fairways, their widths, what most players are doing and whether or not a hole has an accessible pin placement. Fans can deduce which holes are birdie opportunities, but detail why they are.

Lastly, demonstrate the ebbs and flows of a golf tournament among the entire field. Eighteen-hole coverage of the leaders is great, but I would also like to be apprised of guys who are making a move, how they did it, and what led to their success that the charging leaders may also do. Make more use of statistics to show why players are succeeding, or how they are succeeding despite weaknesses. Have a little information bar at the bottom of the screen that shows the current player and his key stats, but also use that bar to keep the viewer abreast of runs and changes elsewhere on the golf course. While it may have been a one-man show on Sunday, CBS (and other networks) can present an entire golf tournament.

I suggest these changes as a way of making golf more interesting for me and the average fan. I love to watch golf and want to make sure that I am getting the most out of the telecasts. Currently, I don't think that I am getting the most bang for my free television dollar. But there are opportunities to make changes that will improve the telecasts, compel viewers, and tell a better story. The best part is that they are simple and with some gentle prodding could be implemented quickly and change how golf is viewed on television.