2012 BMW TV Ratings Up Over '11's Abysmal Numbers

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The Nielsen overnights NBC's BMW Championship telecast where Rory McIlroy bested one of the best leaderboards you'll see in modern times.

Third round: 1.8 (1.0 in 2011)

Final round: 2.6 (0.9 in 2011)

Reset Cup: Rory Wins Again, Then Loses His Huge Playoff Lead

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From Doug Ferguson's game story covering Rory McIlroy's impressive win over a star-studded leaderboard at Crooked Stick in the 2012 BMW Championship:

Any of the top 30 players who advanced to the Tour Championship have a mathematical shot at winning the $10 million prize.

McIlroy earned 2,500 points for winning the last two playoff events, each time 1250 more points than the second place finishers, giving him a commanding 3,232 point lead. Except that this is the Reset Cup, and now McIlroy holds a measly 250 point lead, allowing the other top five players a legitimate chance to win the vaunted trophy.

The full results here.

Mike McAllister tells us about the top 30 advancing. He explains the movement of several players near the bottom, a series of truly spellbinding moments in golf television history that NBC covered dutifully to keep Ponte Vedra happy. Even better for us viewers, allowed for perfect channel changing to NFL and U.S. Open tennis until the telecast returned to the superstars clogging up the leaderboard.

Sean Martin breaks down each of the top 30 to advance and earn exemptions into the first three 2013. Way to go John Huh, overcoming the Q-School baggage!

Jim McCabe on a how Hunter Mahan played himself into the Tour Championship without a top 10 since April and weekend rounds of 80-77. In his usual canded manner, Mahan reveals he's "out of gas," showing perhaps how hard he worked to find his game for the Ryder Cup. I mean The Playoffs.

The SI Confidential gang was very happy to see Phil Mickelson finish T2 and T4 in consecutive weeks just before the Ryder Cup.

ESPN's highlights:

"The cream has risen to the top, hasn't it?"

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That's Lee Westwood quoted in Doug Ferguson's BMW Championship gamer where a storyline pairing leaderboard emerged without the rule staff having to do a thing. As opposed to the Crooked Stick grounds crew who somehow made the course playable after 2.94 inches fell overnight on an already water logged course.

The full leaderboard. Golf Channel's Golf Central highlight package from round three.

Check out the last four groups:

Woods/D. Johnson - 1:15 - Former bomber/current bomber contrast of styles and also possible Ryder Cup teammates despite their struggles in the Presidents Cup.

Scott/Garrigus - 1:25 - Who let them in the middle of this?

McIlroy/Westwood - 1:35- Former "stablemates" have had an awkward and awkwarder relationship since

Mickelson/Singh - 1:45 - Former footwear feuding rivals still won't be sharing any stock tips even if they've softened with age and injury

The leaderboard seems to be validating Crooked Stick as a venue, something the WGA has already taken note of as they are making clear a return would be A-OK with them according to this AP note.

ESPN's highlights:

Pete Dye On Building Crooked Stick

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Dan McFeely talks to Pete Dye about Crooked Stick's backstory as the PGA Tour visits for the BMW Championship.

Both story and accompanying video include Mr. Dye talking about how the course was created and stories about negotiations with Mrs. Kerns over purchasing her farm for the course.

Fun stuff as only Pete can tell it both in McFeely's written version and in the video.

Van Sickle's Simplified Scoring System...And No Reset!

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I think he's simplified the idea, but Gary Van Sickle's cumulative scoring idea for the FedExCup has much more merit than I remember because it, (A) makes the boys play all four weeks, (B) introduces the much-needed danger element in the early stages where a missed cut at Barclays means you're out or a few rounds dogging it can cost you a chance, (C) ties the events together while offering a nice reward for those winning the actual tournaments.

Here's the top 10 going into the BMW, with five-shot victory bonuses for the Deutsche Bank and Barclays winners:

1. Rory McIlroy (-26)
2. Louis Oosthuizen (-24)
3. Nick Watney (-21)
T4. Brandt Snedeker (-20)
T4.Dustin Johnson
6. Tiger Woods (-17)
T7. Kevin Stadler (-13)
T7. Lee Westwood (-13)
T7. Phil Mickelson (-13)
10. Brian Harman (-12)

 

Tiger And Rory Now Doing Joint Post-Round Interviews; Gym Sessions And Wine Country Weekends May Be Next

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The signs have been there but longtime watchers of Tiger looked away: he's in love!

The Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy bromance went public Thursday at the BMW Championship when the two lovebirds gave a joint Golf Channel interview after an impressive scoring duel over Crooked Stick Golf Club.

Randell Mell writes:

“It's fun to play with him, and he's just an amazing talent,” Woods said. “You watch him swing the club and watch him putt and play, he doesn't have a lot of weaknesses. You can see that, in the next decade or so, as he really matures and understands some of the nuances of the game, he's only going to get better, and that's kind of fun to see.”

Huh? Lions don’t share their turf, do they?

Bob Harig also noted the burgeoning romance in his round one story.

They ate breakfast together Wednesday morning, bumped into each other in the media center after their pro-am rounds, managed to poke fun at one another, and were mostly all smiles during the first round of the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick. Afterward, they yukked it up together for a TV interview.

It helps when you are playing well, as both did on a warm, humid day with a water-softened course in the opening round of the third of four FedEx playoff events.

Accompanying Harig's story is a revealing image from Getty's Scott Halleran (right).

Look at how those two gaze at each other!

Let's be frank here. Tiger does not like anyone who is a threat to his game, holds grudges and it's one of the reasons we respect him. Unlike some of his peers, who are gentlemen to the point that they will never achieve greatness, Tiger wants to win and win big. Anyone who gets in the way is the enemy, just as was the case for all-time great predecessors like Ben Hogan. (I know it's hard to believe, but by all accounts the Hawk could be a real beauty when the gates opened.)

But now as Tiger gets older and much, much shorter off the tee, he has become openly smitten with young Rory, cooing over "the kid" in a joint post round interview with Steve Sands, viewable in Golf Channel's first round highlight package. 

I, not normally a cynic, have a few theories on why Tiger has taken such a liking to someone who so clearly stands in the way of reaching the much-vaunted goal of 19 majors.

  • Rory is about to sign with agent Steiny (example: Stricks, Kooch...Rors next?)
  • Rory mentioned that he saw the aerial videos and might be interested in buying Privacy for him and Caroline. To which Tiger, tired of the $1 million in annual upkeep, realized he's found a sucker buyer he needs to be nice to.
  • Rory wondered out loud about playing at Sherwood in December and Tiger is trying his best to lure a box office draw to help save the sponsor-less event he hosts to help fund his foundation.
  • Rory is about to sign with Nike (rumored but doubtful since this could eat into how much Nike pays and markets Tiger).
  • Rory heard Tiger knows a lot about designing courses, wants to learn from Tiger and Tiger doesn't want to tell Rory the bad news that even the purveyor of a lowly golf blog has more design credits to his name than Tiger.

Or maybe Tiger is just setting the lad up, only to go all gamesmanshippy and glaring-stare Tiger when they meet in Sunday singles at the Ryder Cup?

I hope it's that. Because if this Mutual Admiration Society stuff goes on much longer...

The lovefest continues Friday at 9:39 a.m. ET with Golf Channel coverage at 3 p.m. ET.

**This from Golf Channel: Golf Channel will now air the second round coverage LIVE from 11:30am - 3:00pm. There will be a taped re-air immediately following the live telecast on Golf Channel from approx. 3:00-6:00pm.

Monday's Deutsche Bank The Second Most Watched Playoff Event, Ever!

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Yes, I spoke too soon about the no-press-release-in-the-in-box-part, but the format still needs work if a star-studded leaderboard on a cool course is only drawing a 3.3...and that's record territory?

For Immediate Release...

Ratings for Golf Channel on NBC’s Final Day Coverage of Deutsche Bank Championship was Second Only to Tiger-Phil Showdown at Same Event in 2007

NBC Sports Group Sets Multiple Ratings Records to Begin 2012 Playoffs

ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 6, 2012) – NBC’s final round coverage of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday became the highest-rated and most-watched PGA TOUR Playoff round in five years, and the second-best round among all four Playoff events since the race for the FedExCup began in 2007.

Scoring a 3.3 household rating and 4,808,000 average viewers, the 1:30-6 p.m. ET broadcast was second only to the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2007 (3.4/4,900,000), which featured a finishing duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. This year’s final round also bested the same round last year by 83 percent.

“The PGA TOUR Playoffs have provided a stage for the best players in the world to showcase some incredible golf and the resulting competitive drama has garnered more attention than ever before,” said Golf Channel President Mike McCarley. “Tim Finchem and his staff at the PGA TOUR deserve credit for their vision in creating an exciting playoff environment, which after five years has delivered on the promise of what golf can be at this time of year.”

Whoa Nellie, going out of your way to thank the Commish for the great "vision." Easy there Mike, that quote will come up in the next negotiations! Don't encourage them!

Golf Channel early round coverage of the first two tournaments of the PGA TOUR Playoffs – The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship – and its branded coverage of the third and final rounds of the Deutsche Bank Championship on NBC have set several ratings milestones, creating a wave of ratings momentum heading into the final two Playoff events of the 2012 season. These record audiences continue to contribute to making Golf Channel the fastest-growing network on U.S. television among those serving more than 80 million households.

· Round two of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Golf Channel (1.5/1,526,000) was the highest-rated and most-watched early round for this event ever (2003-2012) and was 84 percent higher than the same round in 2010, the last time Tiger Woods played in the event. It also was the second-most-watched Playoff early round in the history of the FedExCup (best was round two of the 2007 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola (1.9/1,721,000).

· Metered market overnight ratings for third round coverage of the Deutsche Bank Championship on NBC (2.5) was up 67 percent over the same round in 2011 (+47% versus 2010) and the best since 2007 (2.8).

· Golf Channel’s second round coverage of The Barclays (1.4/1,344,000) topped any previous record since the tournament became a Playoff event on Golf Channel in 2007 and was the highest-rated and most-watched early round for this event on cable (1995-2012), including telecasts on ESPN and USA Network. Round two ratings were 58 percent better than round one and also topped the same coverage in 2011 by 116 percent.

Rory Takes Big Chunks Out Of TPC Boston En Route To Deutsche Bank Win

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Doug Ferguson on another startling win by Rory McIlroy, this time with two huge final day chunks en route to a probable player-of-the-year clinching win over a stellar field.

Boy Wonder didn't make it easy on himself at the TPC Boston. He tore up the turf on a tee shot that traveled 170 yards, and that was the only fairway he hit over the last five holes.

He had to make a 6-foot putt to save par from a bunker, and a 5-foot putt to save bogey after a pitch sailed from one side of the green to the other. And he had to wait as Louis Oosthuizen's birdie putt to force a playoff slid below the hole.

"I had a couple of wobbles coming in, but I obviously did enough and I'm very excited to get a victory," McIlroy said.

Stunningly, the highlights did not include any of the wobbly shots or the super NBC analysis of them, so I've miniaturized the highlight package to celebrate the PGATour.com's move away from YouTube because, well, why would you want to reach a mass audience? You can put your ads on there too Tim!

On second thought, here is Golf Channel's exhaustive recap.

Gil: “We just wanted to create a little more interesting finish."

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Rex Hoggard talks to Gil Hanse about being called a rooster Luke Donald's 18th green complaints and the TPC Boston rebuilder makes clear that interest was emphasized over difficulty.

For the week, the 18th is playing harder statistically. Last year the hole played to a 4.50 average with 19 eagles, 165 birdies and 23 bogeys. Through three rounds this year the hole has a 4.650 average, 14 eagles, 106 birdies and 28 bogeys.

“We just wanted to create a little more interesting finish,” Hanse said. “If that translated to the hole being harder, fine; and if it was easier that was fine. It was never the goal to go out and make the hole more difficult.”