Ratings Non-Shocker: NFL Playoffs Relegate PGA Tour To Bottom Of Ratings Barrel

For your definition of insanity files: the PGA Tour annually tries to play at the same time as NFL playoff games and no one watches. With expanded playoffs in 2021, the NFL added a game each weekend day and the Sentry Tournament Of (Some) Champions stood little chance.

Showbuzzdaily.com reports Sunday’s early coverage drew an average of a million viewers on NBC, but about 40% of those watchers did not head to Golf Channel for the conclusion.

Saturday’s third round coverage was out-rated by Thursday and Friday coverage. It landed in Saturday’s cable listings with a 1 am episode of Dateline and episodes of Ryan’s Mystery Play Date on Nick Jr network. Yikes.

The final round .39 on Golf Channel matched last year’s final round .39, but as the numbers show, the miniscule number from coveted demo is headed in the wrong direction.

One ray of good news?

Golf on NBC was not the lowest rated sports broadcast on linear TV. Not even close. Sunday’s early coverage drummed both Drone Racing AND Supercross 1Q1!

Slowing Down Golf Courses Is Not A Distance Debate Solution

Several sent along Dr. Chamblee’s latest distance elixir, his 43rd pivot on a topic Golf Channel’s lead analyst has adopted to the detriment of his otherwise compelling analysis work. And it hasn’t even brought a certain Massachusetts advertiser back into the fold.

I won’t waste much time highlighting his view that you slow down home runs by raising the infield grass, but that is the case being made to deal with today’s absurd carry distances. But remember, these are back to back sentences as they appeared on GolfChannel.com:

But there is also a graph which shows, quite clearly, players’ increased visits to the fitness van plots the line of the increased yardage gained over the last 40 years. I’d argue that one could also make a graph where the increased driving distance, to some extent, corresponds to the decreased fairway heights, which over the last 30 years have come down from being cut at 3/4 of an inch, to now being cut at 3/16 of an inch.

Yes, you read correctly: he went from players going to fitness vans to get their distance gains “to some extent” corresponding with lowering mowing heights.

Actually, no extent.

There was also a whopper of a misrepresentation that might have been fact-checked if they hadn’t fired most of the editors. Chamblee’s claim of most fairways getting cut at 3/16th of an inch was refuted by the USGA’s Championship Agronomist on Twitter:

Vast, vast majority of courses are not routinely cutting fairways below 1/4 inch, not even close. Not even at the Tour courses.

— Darin Bevard (@DarinBevard) January 6, 2021

This was all really a roundabout way to point out that last weekend’s Sentry Tournament Of Some Champions was hard to watch. The views and whale shots were as spectacular as ever, but Kapalua’s Plantation course was a sponge.

A Coore-Crenshaw design to played on the ground with the ball running had taken on a lot of rain leading up to the tournament, hasn’t played faster after the renovation designed to help it do so, and therefore called on little creativity or shotmaking. It played longer, yes, but it was also tough to find remotely compelling.

Every course plays better firmer and faster. Harvesting rough, slowing down fairways and attempting to mute technology-fueled gains via agronomy is not only a woeful idea, it goes against the very soul of a game built on firm ground.

Does anyone want to sacrifice a core principle of golf to avoid taking 10% of carry away from 1000 golf pros? Trying to watch lush and lifeless Kapalua should give you the answer.

No Pro-Am, Down To Two Courses For The American Express (AKA The Hope)

Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s American Express moves to two courses and no pro-am format with a $6.7 million purse, reports the Desert Sun’s Larry Bohannan.

Sponsor AmEx will match last year’s charitable donation of $1 million despite the loss of pro-am revenue, though the number is a far cry from the amounts generated during the Hope years.

“Due to the current local climate in Riverside County caused by COVID-19, and considering national travel associated with the event, the tournament will be played without the traditional multi-day pro-am format and ticketed spectators, and will be held on only two courses: PGA West’s Stadium Course (host) and Nicklaus Tournament Course,” the PGA Tour said in a release Thursday. “The three-day pro-am format, which has been a part of the tournament since its debut in 1960, will return in 2022.”

The pro-am has evolved in recent years from the original concept of golfers from desert clubs playing in the event to one in which more pro-am participants fly from across the country to the desert for the tournament.

One positive of no pro-am? There will be no appearances from genocidal sleezebags this year.

Bryson Hopes To Reach 210 MPH Ball Speed In Competition

The ratings! The buzz! The kids!

I haven’t a clue what seeing a player cross 200 mph in swing speed and 210 mph ball speed does for folks, but it’ll be entertaining to watch in sort of a freak show way.

From Brentley Romine’s story on Bryson DeChambeau hoping to

“I haven’t given up the pursuit of trying to get faster,” DeChambeau told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis on Tuesday at Kapalua, where after a year hiatus he will open his season at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

How fast? DeChambeau said that once he reaches between 207 and 210 mph average ball speed with his driver (he currently leads the PGA Tour at 192.80 mph and has yet to break the 200-mph mark in competition), he will finally be satisfied with his distance quest.

“At that point, I’ll probably be like, ‘OK, that’s good enough,’” DeChambeau said.

Noted!

Prepare for goose bumps…or an eye roll depending on how you feel about the whole Long Drive move:

On Monday, DeChambeau said that after hitting 211 mph ball speed on the range, he reached 201 mph on the final hole of his practice round. He also said he hit an 8-iron 205 yards.

By the way, this is my friendly New Year’s reminder that the World Long Drive remains available for sale. Contact operators in Stamford, CT.

ESPN+ To Start PGA Tour Featured Group Coverage A Year Early, Holes TBA Each Day

PGA Tour Live pre-broadcast coverage moves from the glitchy NBC Sports platform to ESPN+ in 2022 and I’m fairly certainly the immediate technological wonders and affordable bundle will be a hit.

Even better, we now learn that current subscribers will get to stream featured-hole coverage from 23 PGA Tour events in 2021, a huge perk and yet another mysterious waiving of the white flag by current streaming partner NBC.

For Immediate Release:

ESPN+ and the PGA TOUR have reached an agreement for ESPN+ to stream live, featured-hole coverage from 23 PGA TOUR events in 2021, starting with the Farmers Insurance Open in January and continuing through the FedExCup Playoffs and the TOUR Championship in September. The new agreement follows a similar pact that covered 12 events in 2020 and comes ahead of the launch of PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+, as part of the nine-year U.S. rights agreement announced in March, which begins in 2022.

 In 2021, ESPN+ will stream coverage of two featured holes on Saturday and Sunday of each event (selected each day of competition by the PGA TOUR), concurrent with the full telecast on CBS or NBC. 

This is an intriguing twist, which, in theory will allow the coverage to take advantage of a possible twist in course setup or based on early round play. Or, Saturday’s hole turns out to be uneventful and they pivot to another. Love it.

The schedule for 2021 weekend featured hole coverage on ESPN+

PGA Tour Outlines A Very Sensible Early Season Return Of Limited Fans*

Of course you know it’s *Scottsdale that wants 8000 a day and to continue its (indoor) corporate hospitality. A move which, combined with the uh, clientele, seems like a recipe for disaster. And there are the optics which are dicey in the best of times.

Their plans also seem bold after the Houston Open experiment was capped at a purported 2000 a day and did not exactly give the impression we’re quite ready as a society to gather in huge crowds. I mean, 2000 a day.

Otherwise, the plans for early season events are impressively conservative, restrained and in compliance with local officials, no doubt an arduous and painful process to work through.

Especially when there is the Waste Management Open still wanting to do its thing, albeit scaled down. Brian Wacker writes for GolfDgiest.com:

The tournament with the highest annual attendance on tour—in 2018 it had a record 719,179 fans for the week—will allow up to 8,000 fans per day next year, by far the most of any PGA Tour event to date. Scott Jenkins, who is chairing the tournament for the host organizers, The Thunderbirds, in 2021, told Golf Digest last month that the plan was to build a one-story structure to accommodate fans at the par-3 16th, which has in recent years had a three-story grandstand surrounding most of the hole.

We can only hope they build it in way that is well ventilated. spaced and limited, but it’s also a bit amazing they want to take the chance.

Early 2021 PGA Tour Events To Be (Largely) Played Without Galleries

While one more fall event is to be played this week in Mexico the West Coast Swing is not far away. And outside of a smattering fans in Maui and (gulp) a downscaled but still-amtitious Waste Management Open, fans will not be in attendance in early 2021. (The viability of the events remains in question as California has traveler quarantine rules in some counties and other lockdowns coming).

The Sony Open will not have fans.

And the first of three California tournaments announced Monday their plan to play the Farmers Insurance Open without fans. From Tod Leonard’s GolfDigest.com story:

The blow of no fans will be lessened, Gorsich said, because the County of San Diego did give its approval last week for pro-ams to take place on Monday and Wednesday of Farmers week. “To not have pro-ams would have been another big hit,” he said. “Getting pro-ams was a big win for us.”

The Tournament of Champions, Sony Open and American Express also will have pro-ams, and it figures that Riviera and Pebble will, too, if their local governments approve.

At the Farmers, pro-am participants pay about $8,000 to play on Wednesday and $4,000 on Monday. Of course, the experience will be very different this year, with only the golfers, the professional and his caddie allowed on the grounds, though Gorisch maintains that it can be a more enjoyable and “intimate” experience. There are no in-person draws parties, and at Torrey Pines the amateurs will warm up in indoor simulators at a nearby hotel.

What could go wrong with a bunch of nervous, huffing and loud pro-am participants gathering in an indoor simulator?

Also, in what should be a pressing matter for the Tour and upcoming non-CBS events: Golf Channel is not COVID testing its crews and is stonewalling. It’s surprising, even at this point, that the Tour’s testing apparatus is not incorporating these hard-working folks into their fold.

2021: Desert's American Express To Be Spectator Free, Pro-Am Format Salvaged

Larry Bohannan details quite a bit about the American Express (aka Bob Hope Classic) confirming a lack of spectators at the 2021 playing. The third PGA Tour event on the 2021 portion of the schedule was able to save its pro-am format, a significant source of charitable income.

Under the county’s current purple tier for reopening, the most restrictive of four state color-coded tiers, live sports can be played but without spectators. The LPGA’s ANA Inspiration was played in September in Rancho Mirage under the purple tier. That women's tournament did allow fans who live in homes around the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club to watch the event from their backyards, something that will also be true at the American Express.

Oh and I can’t wait for the banners this year.

The tournament will, however suffer a huge setback both for its finances and momentum with its popular weekend concerts being put on hold:

While the tournament statement made no mention of the two nights of concerts that are part of the event, no ticketed spectators means no onsite concerts, too.The two concerts in 2020 featured rock legends Stevie Nicks on Friday and country star Luke Bryan on Saturday.Crowd estimate were from 18,000 to 20,000 a night for the concerts, with tickets on those days selling for $50 each.

While not a shock, the PGA Tour’s pre-Florida swings appear destined to be played without spectators,

"PGA Tour easing back into allowing fans, but don’t expect packed fairways"

With this week’s Bermuda event featuring around 500 spectators and next week’s Houston Open selling 2000 tickets a day, it’s unclear if this is an aberration or the beginning of fan attendance.

GolfDigest.com’s Brian Wacker reports on the safety protocols planned in Bermuda and the view of some that it’s not worth having spectators back just yet.

Scott Stallings, who is in the field this week in Bermuda and will play in Houston next week, believes it’s too soon to have fans in attendance. Privately, others also expressed similar concerns.

“It’s not worth the risk with only three events left in the U.S.,” Stallings said. “We’ve made it this far without issue, why rush back?”

A not unreasonable point though at 500 spaced well outdoors, let’s hope there are no issues both of the viral sort or on the optics front.

John Lombardo of Sports Business Daily reports on the unlikelihood of crowds in Hawaii and California, where virus numbers are down and restrictions are toughest. Some galleries are possible at the Waste Management Open (but likely without the usual 16th hole arena build-out).

Florida is the most likely stretch where large galleries are a possibility.

Tour executives said they are looking at the March 2021 Florida swing as the time when more fans may be allowed at events, since Florida has been less restrictive on gatherings during the pandemic. The Florida stops in March include the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players Championship and the Honda Classic.

“As we look to January, it is a case-by-case basis,” Dennis said. “As we look to Florida, we have time and that allows us to focus on what we would do. We know that in Florida there is an opportunity to have spectators and it is evaluating how we do that in a thoughtful way. Certainly, in Florida and well into the spring in Texas, we see an opportunity to build out a model and reintroduce things.”