NBC Sports which had golf covered for the entire Florida swing now goes to Houston to cover this week’s stop and it will be the last for the NBC Mothership for a while. CBS takes over with The Masters® next week, then goes for several weeks straight with the PGA Tour. NBC’s sister network, The Golf Channel will forge ahead with its coverage throughout the season, of course. So this week, the Houston Open at the Redstone Golf Club just outside Houston is the stop and we have details of the combined Group’s coverage for this week.
NBC SPORTS GROUP CONCLUDES SOUTHERN SWING WITH COMPLETE-ROUND COVERAGE OF SHELL HOUSTON OPEN THURSDAY-SUNDAY ON GOLF CHANNEL & NBC
World No. 2 Lee Westwood, No. 6 Phil Mickelson & Reigning Shell Champ Anthony Kim Paired in Featured Group on Thursday-Friday
NEW YORK – Mar. 30, 2011 – The NBC Sports Group concludes its 113 live hours of coverage of the PGA TOUR’s six-tournament southern swing with complete-round coverage of the Shell Houston Open from Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas this Thursday-Sunday on Golf Channel and NBC.
Redstone purposely tailors its course to mimic Augusta National, benefitting many of the players who are honing their game the week before the first major of the year. On Thursday and Friday, Phil Mickelson, the 2010 Masters champion, will be paired with World No. 2 Lee Westwood and defending SHO champion Anthony Kim in a featured group. All three competed in last year’s Shell and went on to finish 1-3 at Augusta.
Other featured groups include: local favorite Fred Couples, who played at the University of Houston, with rising stars Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan; Bob Hope winner Jhonattan Vegas with 2012 Ryder Cup captains Davis Love III and Jose Maria Olazabal; and Transitions champion Gary Woodland with multiple-major winners Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington.
NBC Sports Group will present 16 hours of live complete-round coverage of the tournament. Golf Channel will air live first- and second-round action on Thursday and Friday from 3-6 p.m. ET and will present four additional hours of live action on the weekend beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend coverage leads directly into “Golf Channel on NBC” (3-6 p.m. ET, both days). Golf Channel will also replay six total hours on Thursday-Friday (9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. ET).
NBC SPORTS GROUP SCHEDULE (all times ET):
Thursday
First Round 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. (Replay) Golf ChannelFriday
Second Round 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. (Replay) Golf ChannelSaturday
Third Round 1-3 p.m. (Live) Golf Channel
Third Round 3-6 p.m. (Live) NBCSunday
Final Round 1-3 p.m. (Live) Golf Channel
Final Round 3-6 p.m. (Live) NBCGOLF CENTRAL: Golf Central will air live from 6-6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday-Friday and 8:30-9 p.m. ET on Saturday-Sunday. Golf Central is Golf Channel’s studio show that provides the only live, daily source for comprehensive and up-to-date news from around the world of golf.
DIGITAL: Fans can access exclusive behind-the-scenes content of the NBC Sports Group’s golf coverage via Facebook (www.facebook.com/golfchannel) and Twitter (@golfchannel). NBCSports.com’s ProGolfTalk will feature previews, recaps and analysis of all the stories and results of the event.
COMMENTATORS: Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller, in their 12th season together, will anchor ‘Golf Channel on NBC’ coverage Saturday and Sunday from the main tower. Gary Koch and Mark Rolfing will serve as tower reporters while Roger Maltbie and Dottie Pepper will report from the course. Jimmy Roberts will serve as interviewer/essayist.
Brian Hammons and Frank Nobilo will host Golf Channel coverage. Koch (tower), Roberts (tower), Rolfing (tower/course), Maltbie (course) and Pepper (course) will also work Golf Channel’s coverage, joining interviewer Mike Ritz.
ROLFING ON REDSTONE MIMICKING AUGUSTA: “Phil Mickelson is testimony himself to the viability that Redstone mimics Augusta. It’s big for the Europeans, too. They want to get competition in America under their belts and want to experience conditions that are similar to Augusta. Lee Westwood’s participation is the poster child for that.”
ROLFING ON MICKELSON THIS WEEK: “Phil is slowly peaking towards Augusta. The question for him this week is, how much is Augusta on his mind as opposed to Houston?”
There you have it.
