Golf Channel and NBC Sports are combining for 22 hours of coverage of golf’s “Fifth Major” as the PGA Tour shifts to Ponte Vedra, FL for the Players Championship. As usual, the tournament is played at TPC Sawgrass where the signature hole is the 17th island green where so many golfers have had their hopes dashed by splashing their drives into the water. Golf Channel will have extensive coverage on Thursday and Friday. For the first time, NBC’s Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller will be seen on Golf Channel since the merger with Comcast. They’ll be on from 3 – 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and of course, they’ll be on the weekend coverage on NBC.
Your press release complete with coverage details.
NBC SPORTS GROUP TO SHOWCASE 22 HOURS OF LIVE COVERAGE OF THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP WITH LIMITED COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTION
Golf Talk Live airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Golf Channel with Rich Lerner moderating a panel of Johnny Miller, Frank Nobilo & Peter Jacobsen
“The unpredictable course of all courses…Nobody owns this golf course.” – “Golf Channel on NBC” analyst Johnny Miller
“I’m always on the edge of my seat watching this golf tournament for a million reasons.” – Golf Channel analyst Brandel ChambleeNEW YORK – May 11, 2011 – The NBC Sports Group will present 22 hours of live coverage with limited commercial interruption of THE PLAYERS Championship from the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., this Thursday-Sunday on both Golf Channel and NBC. Golf Channel will also air 17 hours of Live from THE PLAYERS and 10 hours of golf re-airs to bring the total number of programming hours during the four days of the tournament to 49. This year marks the 30th year that THE PLAYERS has been held at TPC Sawgrass.
Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, Golf Channel airs a special program, Golf Talk Live – a panel-discussion show featuring Johnny Miller, Frank Nobilo, Peter Jacobsen and moderated by Rich Lerner. The program is modeled after State of the Game Live, which aired prior to the NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the WGC-Accenture Championship in February.
This year’s field for THE PLAYERS is deep and features World No. 2 Martin Kaymer, No. 3 Luke Donald, No. 4 Phil Mickelson, No. 8 Tiger Woods, reigning champion Tim Clark, defending FedExCup champion Jim Furyk and current FedExCup points leader Bubba Watson. Some of the featured pairings for the first two rounds include Woods, Kaymer and Matt Kuchar, as well as Donald, Watson and Mark Wilson.
NBC SPORTS GROUP SCHEDULE FOR THE PLAYERS (all times ET):
Thursday
Live from THE PLAYERS 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Golf Channel
First Round Live 1-7 p.m. Golf Channel
Live from THE PLAYERS 7-9 p.m. Golf Channel
First Round Re-Air 9 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. Golf ChannelFriday
Live from THE PLAYERS 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Golf Channel
Second Round Live 1-7 p.m. Golf Channel
Live from THE PLAYERS 7-9 p.m. Golf Channel
Second Round Re-Air 9 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. Golf ChannelSaturday
Live from THE PLAYERS 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Golf Channel
Third Round Live 2-7 p.m. NBC
Live from THE PLAYERS 7-9 p.m. Golf Channel
Third Round NBC Re-Air 9-11 p.m. Golf ChannelSunday
Live from THE PLAYERS 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Golf Channel
Final Round Live 2-7 p.m. NBC
Live from THE PLAYERS 7-9 p.m. Golf Channel
Fourth Round NBC Re-Air 9-11 p.m. Golf ChannelLIVE FROM THE PLAYERS: Beginning Tuesday, Golf Channel’s Live from THE PLAYERS was on site at TPC Sawgrass providing live, up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage of the tournament. The program will immediately precede and follow all live golf coverage from Thursday-Sunday.
GOLF TALK LIVE TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET: Modeled after the panel-discussion program State of the Game Live, which aired prior to the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in February, Golf Talk Live features Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner hosting a panel of Johnny Miller, Frank Nobilo and Peter Jacobsen. The group will discuss, among many topics, the famous 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, the strength of the European Tour players, and the late Seve Ballesteros. It airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
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 (http://progolftalk.nbcsports.com/) will feature previews, recaps and analysis of all the stories and results of the event.
PERISCOPE CAM RETURNS: NBC Sports Group covers the famous “Island Green” par-3, 17th hole with an event-record 11 HD cameras, including a microscopic lens embedded in the lip of the tiny front bunker and two ‘periscope cams’ which return after making their successful debut last year. The periscope cams sit atop two pipes that are anchored to the bottom of the pond, allowing the camera to rotate 360 degrees and providing a green-high view of hole. The cameras peek just above the surface of the water resembling a submarine’s periscope.
NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive coverage of 17 also includes a camera operator lifted by a crane 150 feet into the air above the trees from right of the 16th fairway where his camera has a clear view of 16, 17 and 18. Another camera operator is ferried to the island right of the 17th green where he is marooned for approximately eight hours to get reactions from the 17th tee and operate the super-slow-motion camera.
10th ANNIVERSARY OF “BETTER THAN MOST”: NBC Sports Group golf analyst Gary Koch will cover the iconic ‘Island Green’ 17th hole at THE PLAYERS Championship for the 14th consecutive year this week.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of his famous “Better than Most” call. During the 2001 PLAYERS, Tiger Woods had a long putt ahead of him on 17. As he hit it, Koch said that the line Woods had taken was “better than most.” As the ball approached the hole, Koch repeatedly said “better than most” until the ball dramatically sunk into the cup accompanied by a huge roar from the crowd and numerous fist pumps from Woods. It stands as one of 17’s indelible moments.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1 Blimp
8 Production Trucks
47 Cameras
1,262,000 Feet of fiber cableGOLF CHANNEL AND NBC SPORTS CO-BRANDING: All golf coverage on NBC has been re-branded as “Golf Channel on NBC.” The coverage incorporates the Golf Channel look throughout every telecast, down to the logo on the NBC Sports commentators’ apparel. Golf Channel’s tournament graphics are showcased throughout all coverage, which now includes a custom-made Golf Channel-NBC peacock combination logo. “Golf Channel powered by NBC Sports” has been incorporated into all of Golf Channel’s coverage.
COMMENTATORS: Dan Patrick, who was nominated for a Sports Emmy for his studio host work on Football Night in America, returns as event host on Saturday and Sunday on NBC. Host Dan Hicks and analyst Johnny Miller anchor “Golf Channel on NBC” coverage from the 18th-hole tower. Hicks and Miller are joined by tower reporters Gary Koch (17th hole) and Peter Jacobsen; on-course reporters Roger Maltbie, Mark Rolfing and Dottie Pepper; interviewer/essayist Jimmy Roberts and Golf World’s Tim Rosaforte.
Hicks and Miller will also participate in Golf Channel’s coverage on Thursday and Friday for the first time. Terry Gannon will host Golf Channel’s coverage with Frank Nobilo on Thursday and Nick Faldo on Friday. Maltbie, Jacobsen and Koch will provide tower coverage for Golf Channel while Rolfing and Pepper will work both the tower and the course over the two days. Philip Parkin will serve as an on-course reporter both days. Rich Lerner will serve as event host for Golf Channel on Thursday and Friday.
And after a jump break, you’ll see highlights of a conference call involving the Group’s golf crews.
Here are highlights from a conference call conducted on Wednesday previewing The Players.
CONFERENCE CALL: The NBC Sports Group today conducted a conference call to preview its coverage of THE PLAYERS with commentators Miller, Maltbie, Nobilo and Chamblee, and producer Tommy Roy.
Following are highlights:
NABILO ON THE PLAYERS: “THE PLAYERS Championship is still a very international event. It’s been the benchmark for so many different things in professional golf. It’s a privilege and a pleasure to be a part of the event from the outside as opposed to being on the inside of the ropes.”
MALTBIE ON THE PLAYERS: “It’s always a thrill to be here. It’s easily, on anybody’s list, one of the five most important championships in the world. It’s a great field and great golf course, a very testing golf course…I’ve always found this to be a second-shot players golf course. I can’t think of another golf course that is probably a more demanding second-shot players golf course than the course here. And for that reason I like Luke Donald this week. I think he’s the preeminent iron player in the game. If he has a good week with the driver, keeps the ball in play, I think he’s the guy to beat. So it’s a fabulous week. The golf course is in absolutely magnificent condition.”
CHAMBLEE ON THE PLAYERS: “It is, in my book, a major championship. I’m calling it a major. It has the best field, style of golf. It has one of the most exciting golf courses…and most certainly the most demanding golf course. You watch the game of human emotion that the players go through on 16, 17 and 18. In some ways, those three holes distract from the fact that the 15 holes that come before them are extraordinary and well respected among the players. I’m always on the edge of my seat watching this golf tournament for a million reasons.”
MILLER ON THE PLAYERS: “THE PLAYERS is unbelievable. I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to come to this great, crazy course…the unpredictable course of all courses, I would say. Nobody owns this golf course. The top guys have gotten one or no wins on this course. It’s very hard to play THE PLAYERS course. It’s visually very intimidating. It’s unpredictable. It’s got all the nuances that produce some special winners. Its got the most amazing finish that has so many options on 16, 17 and 18 which really makes the championship, if you ask me, because there is no lead that is too safe. It’s a fun championship and this golf course is sort of a star.”
ROY ON THE PLAYERS: “There’s no doubt we have a love affair with this event. For me personally, producing this golf tournament broadcast is more fun than any other golf event we do quite frankly with the wild turns that can take place at this golf course at any juncture, but particularly at 16, 17 and 18. So it’s quite fun. This is the 30th playing of this event at TPC Sawgrass, which we think is noteworthy, and will be a prevailing theme throughout the four days. This is the 10th anniversary of what we call the “Better than Most” putt, which was Tiger’s miraculous birdie he made at 17 back in ’01 in route to his victory and called by Gary Koch.”
ROY ON NBC SPORTS GROUP’S COVERAGE: “Our mantra is to give the viewer the best seat in the house. We’ve added a few cameras this year that we’re experimenting with that are point-of-view cameras that we’re putting in places to give the viewers a better sense of being at the event, especially in that arena that is the 16th and 17th hole. We are quite excited and can’t wait to get going tomorrow.”
CHAMBLEE ON LEE WESTWOOD AND RORY MCILROY NOT COMPETING: “I think they’re making a mistake. It’s ironic to me that both of them have the same manager. I’m not sure if that’s a coincidence. I’m not sure that Lee Westwood didn’t influence Rory or what. I’m not sure what kind of power play is being enforced there, but I think it’s to the detriment of both players. Lee Westwood would be the favorite here by a mile if he were here…In regards to Rory McIlroy, we all sort of found out at the Masters that under pressure he tends to miss to the left. Part of his maturation process is learning to play golf. Having said that, if you go all the way back to 1982, there’s only one winner here that hasn’t made the United States his home on tour and that was Sandy Lyle in 1987. It takes sort of an impervious nature to play these types of golf courses. They’re not fun. They get inside your head…I think they’re making a huge mistake and I think it’s more of a power play.
MALTBIE ON WESTWOOD AND MCILROY: “It reminds me of years past when there were players that would elect to skip the British Open that were certainly players with the credentials to potentially win that championship. I think those players that skipped the British Open on a routine basis regretted it later. I agree with Brandel. I think it’s a mistake and a little short sighted…The measure of greatness is to play against the best competition possible. Well, they’re here, except for a couple of guys who decided not to be here and I think it was a mistake on their part on a lot of levels.”
MILLER ON WESTWOOD AND MCILROY NOT COMPETING: “It’s sort of an affront to the championship in some ways and a statement and I’m not sure what their statement is, but it definitely puts a little bit of a cloud on why they did it. I don’t have a clue why…I’m sure they would have played if the schedule were different, but besides that, I still think they should be here.”
CHAMBLEE ON TIGER WOODS: “I think there’s a really good chance that he’ll be gone here before he was last year, even though he said yesterday that his knee was fine and his ankle felt fine. It’s very likely that he’s going to reinjure himself playing this course and maybe just hobble out here. It’s kind of sad. We watched Tiger age so rapidly right before our eyes and maybe right before our eyes we’ll watch Tiger Woods play where he’s literally shuffling off the course. It’s quite sad to see and it’s really sad to watch what’s going on with Tiger Woods on the range where this phenomenal athlete with perhaps the best former swing of all time is now kind of an old man out there and trying to rehearse the moves that don’t come naturally to him. It’s really sad to see somebody of that talent going through what he’s going through.
MILLER ON WOODS: “I’m going to take the positive spin here. I really believe that if he has a good first round and plays a little bit like he did at the British Open and sort of dials down and hits a lot of stingers and just get the ball in play…he hasn’t lost his iron game…nobody gives him that credit. He still is a good iron player. It’s just that other things aren’t working out quite as well. So if he can sting it off the tee and let his iron game do what it does and get a good first round so that he has good mojo about the course, which he doesn’t overly love, but he has won there in 2001. The bottom line is that he could be a factor…So of all the places that he would make sort of a first win since the Open at San Diego, this is the unlikely one, but this course is unpredictable so you never know.
MALTBIE ON WOODS: “They’ve never built a golf course that Tiger can’t win on. Period. I don’t care where you play. He’s good enough to win anywhere and I think he’s closer to being really good and winning again than he is to going the other way. It’s pretty obvious that progress is being made with Tiger’s game…Yeah he’s got a chance. You bet he does.”
MILLER ON HOW COURSE PLAYS NOW VS. 30 YEARS AGO: “The course was at least two shots harder back then [when I was playing]…If you hit it in the rough, it was full of branches, bushes and gnarly stuff and critters. It was nasty out in the rough. They’ve now sort of Augusta-tized it and put pine straw everywhere. So it’s at least two strokes easier now. It is now more manicured and it’s actually more predictable. Still, nobody owns this course. This course takes no prisoner.”
MALTBIE ON THE COURSE: “The biggest thing that the golf course really had going for it as a weapon in 1982 was its shock value. We had never seen anything like this. This was contrary to the golf courses we’d all been raised on and tried to learn how to play. The areas around the green to me are much more playable now than they certainly were back in ’82.”
ROY ON THE NBC SPORTS GROUP’S GOLF PRODUCTION: “You’ll see the talent crossing over (between NBC and Golf Channel). Mostly the NBC guys helping on Golf Channel with the shoulder programming. But at the same time, having access to the Golf Channel video tape library really helps us become better storytellers.”
ROY ON NEW CAMERAS: “I’m adding some point-of-view cameras in a couple different places. As I said in my opening, our mantra is to put the viewer in the best seat in the house and we’re hoping that some of these extra little cameras that we have here really give the viewers at home a sense of what it’s like to be here on the property.”
Lastly, we have details of NBC’s latest installment of Global Golf Adventure hosted by Mark Rolfing and it airs Saturday before The Players.
GLOBAL GOLF ADVENTURE: A new episode of Global Golf Adventure, produced and hosted by NBC Sports Group golf personality Mark Rolfing, airs this Saturday on NBC at 1:30 p.m. ET immediately prior to the network’s live third-round coverage of THE PLAYERS Championship.
The season’s second edition of Global Golf Adventure features Rolfing’s visit to ATLANTIS Paradise Island, Bahamas. The show includes a visit to the famous Ocean Club Golf Course and a revealing interview with former world No.1 Nick Price. Rolfing and Price discuss golf’s global growth, the potential for a World Tour, and the challenges and choices associated with managing tour memberships and appearance fees.
FedEx, Maui Jim, Golf Digest and ATLANTIS Paradise Island sponsor global Golf Adventure in this show. Rolfing travels the globe in search of exciting and unique golf and travel destinations. In 2011 four 30-minute Global Golf Adventure shows air prior to live weekend “Golf Channel on NBC” tournament coverage and include interviews with professional golfers as well as travel tips and destination adventures.
And we’re done. This was very long.
