Tag: Golf on TV

Jon Rahm goes off on drones at LIV Golf Nashville: ‘These f—–g drones every time’

Drones, but louder.

Drones have become an integral part of television’s coverage of professional golf.

Whether at a major championship or week-to-week stop, drones can be seen — and heard — buzzing around golf courses across the country every week. While they provide some incredible shots and give a new perspective of courses that have never been seen before, they also have some drawbacks because of the noise.

Enter LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm, who Sunday was three shots back of Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton at LIV Golf Nashville at The Grove when he was on the par-4 sixth tee. Rahm’s tee shot sailed right into the water hazard, and before his ball reached his apex, he turned around and looked into the sky in disgust.

“Every tournament. It’s f—–g incredible. Right on my backswing. These f—–g drones every time,” the microphones caught the two-time major champion saying.

Drones, but louder.

Rahm would go on to make double, the worst score on the hole of the golfers who had completed the hole by that time (remember, LIV Golf events begin with a shotgun start).

The Spaniard has given some great hot mic moments before, but he also has a point about drones moving right in the middle of his swing. It happens more often than you think, and given Rahm’s fiery competitiveness, it’s no surprise he’s the one to let us know what likely many other professional golfers think about drones.

Charles Barkley as a golf announcer? He’s a free agent, since he’s retiring from his NBA broadcast career

Could he be considered a possible golf analyst? He’s certainly got the connections.

When contract talks between basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and TNT stalled a bit in 2022 there was talk that LIV Golf considered bringing Barkley in as a golf analyst.

The “Inside the NBA” star said after Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday that next season will be his last with the program – and that after the 2024-25 season he will be done with NBA television in its entirety.

Barkley has not been afraid to share his perspective as TNT’s parent company has tried to retain its ability to broadcast NBA games beyond next season. According to multiple reports, ESPN, Amazon and NBC are primed to be the rightsholders in the league’s next broadcast contract.

“There’s been a lot of noise around our network the last few months. And I just want to say – I’ve talked to all the other networks, but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT,” Barkley said. “But I have made the decision myself. No matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television. And I just want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been great to me. My heart is full with joy and gratitude.”

Barkley said he wants to “pass the baton” to another generation of analysts, such as Vince Carter and Jamal Crawford, at the end of next season. He also said that he was done giving interviews about his future prospects.

But in 2022, the fan-favorite analyst had been flirting with the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf series, even though he insisted a concrete offer never came.

“No, they haven’t offered me anything,” Barkley told Golfweek after walking off the 18th green at a 2022 LIV Golf pro-am at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. “My number one priority is Turner, and I’m not gonna keep Turner in limbo. So that’s my priority.”

“They’ve given me everything I have,” Barkley said at the time.

Former NBA player Charles Barkley hits a tee shot during the LIV Invitational Pro-Am at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

No stranger to celebrity and pro-am events, Barkley has been a unifying force, appearing on TNT’s “The Match” and showing up at both PGA Tour and LIV Golf events. Could he be considered a possible golf analyst? He’s certainly got the connections.

“I’ve got friends on both tours, it was great to see some of my friends I haven’t seen in a minute like Brooks, Bryson, Pat Perez, I wish these guys great success,” Barkley explained. “I’m gonna support LIV, I’m gonna support the PGA Tour. But like I say, as of now, I don’t know anything. I haven’t been asked anything. I wish I could give somebody an answer, but I don’t know anything.”

Barkley, who has made it known he enjoys playing, watching and commentating on golf, has impressed those in the game with his attention to detail.

“I had dinner with him,” said Stan Utley, who captured the PGA Tour’s 1989 Chattanooga Classic. “I asked him this question, I said, ‘Do you work harder at golf than you did basketball?’ and he said, ‘Absolutely.’ I really don’t think people realize how much he loves golf and how much time he spends playing and practicing. I really do think he practices a lot.”

U.S. Open’s Peacock TV debacle is just the beginning for pro golf fans

Did you see Rory McIlroy’s birdie on the final hole of the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday?

Did you see Rory McIlroy’s birdie on the final hole of the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday?

If the answer is yes, and you saw the putt live rather than in a highlight package, then you are one of the golf fans who have Peacock, NBC’s subscription-based streaming service. If you didn’t see it live, you were probably cursing under your breath that the powers that run television and sports have found another way to milk a few dollars out of viewers.

The social media world exploded when the U.S. Open switched from USA Network, a standard network commonly found on most platforms including cable, to Peacock on Thursday afternoon. Those chants grew a little louder on Friday when USA Network wasn’t part of the Open broadcast, but Peacock was the television platform for the morning and late afternoon sessions. NBC carried the Open midday.

The Open might be the sporting event at the center of anger about paywalls for the moment, but in reality this is nothing new. In a search for more lucrative sources of revenue, major sports are increasingly tucking at least some of their content behind streaming services that require an additional subscription.

U.S. OPEN: Leaderboard | Hole-by-hole | How to watch

The PGA Tour has certainly been at the center of this movement with early round action now broadcast on ESPN+ and Peacock for some time now. Other sports are also on Peacock, such as the LPGA, Indy Car racing, boxing, soccer and a ton of U.S. Olympic trials for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris. Much of those Games will be on Peacock as well.

You may also remember that the National Football League put one of its playoff games last season on Peacock. The NFL, never at a loss for a way to squeeze an extra dollar out of fans and sponsors, has already put its Thursday Night Football games on pay service Amazon Prime. Major League Baseball isn’t immune to the movement, taking some Friday games and giving them exclusively to Apple TV, meaning those games aren’t on the regional sports networks fans traditionally watch.

Not going away

If you think your favorite sports moving to streaming services that require an additional subscription is a trend that can’t continue, think again. The NFL recently announced that it will play two games on Christmas Day this year, and both will be on Netflix, another pay service. Meanwhile, NBC is on the verge of announcing a new deal to take over the NBA package currently held by TNT through next season. When NBC does get the pro basketball contract, the scuttlebutt is many of the games (who knows how many games) will be broadcast on – you guessed it – Peacock.

Again, none of this is new. Golf has been on Peacock for a while, and websites like Masters.com have increasingly been showing a more diverse golf broadcast than traditional television platforms can show. Peacock, for instance, shows featured groups on streams that aren’t showing the regular broadcast.

But streaming services cost money, and that starts to add up for fans who watch other platforms, whether cable or outlets like YouTube TV or Hulu for the bulk of their television. Maybe it’s just $10 a month, but consider that the NFL is now asking fans to subscribe to Amazon Prime, Netflix and Peacock to see games.

The reason the trend is actually growing is because fans do follow their sports wherever they are broadcast. Maybe not all fans, but enough fans for the sports and the streaming services to believe the money spent for broadcasting rights is money well spent. If no one was watching, would the NFL hide two Christmas Day games on Netflix?

So if the trend isn’t going away, and is in fact growing, it is easy to start conjecturing what sporting events will be on streaming services next. Early games in the expanded College Football Playoffs could be a target by streaming services. So could the WNBA, which is growing fans quickly in the last year. The Major League Baseball playoffs might send an entire early round series to a streaming platform.

For fans of the U.S. Open this weekend, Peacock only comes into play for targeted feature groups. The main broadcast will be on USA for a few hours and then NBC the rest of the day. But it’s easy to see how the shift to streaming services could continue to shift in the future as cable viewership shrinks and streaming services keep looking for subscribers. If you want to follow the sports to streaming services, just follow the money.

Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. 

It’s been a decade since Johnny Miller’s last U.S. Open broadcast at Pinehurst. Here’s what he said

Miller in 2014: “I’m hoping Fox will do a good job of keeping it going.”


When Johnny Miller stepped down from the broadcast booth following the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, his body language seemed to convey that he understood this was likely the last time he’d call the national championship.

Miller, whose 1973 win at Oakmont is considered one of the most dramatic in light of a final-round 63 that saw him come from deep in the pack, was proud of the work he’d done on the event with NBC Sports. But since Fox Sports had inked a lucrative deal with the USGA, the 2014 event, which was won by Martin Kaymer, was expected to end NBC’s run with the tournament.

A Golfweek crew that included current senior writer David Dusek stopped Miller as he stepped down from the U.S. Open booth for the final time.

“The way I look at it, 20 years is a pretty dang good run,” Miller told Golfweek at the time. “I didn’t think we’d lose it because I thought we were doing really a good job, but money talks and Fox wanted to get into the golf business. It is what it is. We had a great run. If somebody would have said I could do 20 Opens I would have been very happy and I’m still happy.

“But I’m hoping Fox will do a good job of keeping it going.”

Fox did not, in fact, keep it going.

More: Q&A with former NBC golf lead analyst Johnny Miller

In 2020, the USGA announced that media rights for its championships moved back to NBCUniversal, breaking a 12-year deal with Fox Sports worth about $1 billion.

After COVID forced the USGA to move the dates of the 2020 U.S. Open from June to September, Fox Sports struggled to find the broadcast hours needed for the championship, USGA officials noted, given their additional commitments to the NFL, MLB and college football. Talks that began looking into how Fox Sports and NBC/Golf Channel might work together this year ultimately ended in NBC taking over entirely.

The current NBC Sports agreement runs through 2026, but Miller had already left the network in 2019 when the new deal was forged.

When pressed to recall some of his favorite U.S. Open moments in the booth, Miller talked about his first broadcast when Corey Pavin won the 1995 tournament at Shinnecock over Greg Norman, in which he called Pavin’s 4-wood approach on the 72nd hole the “shot of his life.”

And of course, Miller looked fondly back on Tiger Woods’ dominant victory at Pebble Beach in 2000. Miller knew Woods was clearly in his prime, but he told his NBC partner they were in for something even more special than anyone else anticipated.

“He had only played four holes and Dan Hicks said to me, ‘what do you think Tiger’s chances are?’ And I said, ‘I think he’s going to shoot a record score and win by a huge margin.’ And he looked at me like, what are you smoking?” Miller recalled.

How to watch the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst on NBC, USA and Peacock

Get ready for more than 200 hours of live golf.

It’s finally here, the 124th U.S. Open.

The national championship is being staged at Pinehurst No. 2 for a fourth time. Payne Stewart (1999), Michael Campbell (2005) and Martin Kaymer (2014) are the previous winners of the event there.

There is a field of 156 tackling a par-70 track measuring 7,543 yards. The Donald Ross design opened in 1907.

In 2024, there will be more than 200 hours of coverage on the NBC family of networks, with the main broadcast, featured groups and featured holes as well as and studio coverage on NBC, USA and Golf Channel and streamed on Peacock.

U.S. OPEN: Tournament hub | Hole-by-hole | Field

NBC’s coverage starts Friday and continues with over the weekend up through the trophy ceremony Sunday evening.

Note: All times listed are ET.

Monday, June 10

Golf Central Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel and Peacock, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Golf Channel and Peacock, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Tuesday, June 11

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Wednesday, June 12

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Thursday, June 13

First round, USA, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Featured Groups, usopen.com, USGA App, Peacock, all day

U.S. Open All Access, Peacock, 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

First round, Peacock, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 8 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Friday, June 14

Second round, Peacock, 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Featured Groups, usopen.com, USGA App, Peacock, all day

U.S. Open All Access, Peacock, 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Second round, NBC, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Second round, Peacock, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Saturday, June 15

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Featured Groups, usopen.com, USGA App, Peacock, all day

U.S. Open All Access, Peacock, 10 a.m. – noon

Third round, USA, 10 a.m. to noon

Third round, NBC, noon to 8 p.m.

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 8 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Sunday, June 16

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel, 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Featured Groups, usopen.com, USGA App, Peacock, all day

U.S. Open All Access, Peacock, 9 a.m. – noon

Final round, USA, 9 a.m. to noon

Final round, NBC, noon to 7 p.m.

Golf Central: Live From the U.S. Open (Golf Channel), 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay returning to full-time TV duties at NBC/Golf Channel, starting at U.S. Open

Bones is lightening his load once again.

Jim “Bones” Mackay is lightening his load once again – from 14 clubs in a PGA Tour bag to simply a microphone.

Sam Flood, the executive producer of NBC Sports and president of production, confirmed on a conference call with media that Bones is back full time as part of a multi-year deal.

“He will be part of NBC Sports for years to come as we’re going to partner for a long time with him,” Flood said.

Bones previously had been announced as part of the broadcast team for NBC Spots/Golf Channel’s coverage of the U.S. Open next week at Pinehurst No. 2, where he caddied for Phil Mickelson in the final group in 1999 and finished second as well as in 2005 and 2014.

“It’s great for me and I couldn’t be happier about the situation,” Bones said in a separate phone call with Golfweek. “In terms of where I am in my life this is the perfect scenario for me and I couldn’t be more pleased.”

Bones, 59, is regarded as one of the most popular and best caddies in the game. He spent a stretch of 25 years as caddie for Mickelson before joining NBC in 2017 as an on-course reporter and quickly becoming one of the best in the business in that role. He took a step back from his TV gig to join forces with Justin Thomas in September 2021. They won one title together – the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

2024 Players Championship
Justin Thomas and caddie Jim “Bones” MacKay look on from the 14th fairway during the second round of the 2024 Players Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. (Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Their partnership ended after the Valspar Championship in March. When Thomas had been off, Bones still did TV from time to time for NBC, including for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship last year, and he served as the lead analyst for the Tour’s Mexico Open, the first time an active caddie has ever filled that role.

“I’m going to do several (tournaments) this year,” said Bones of an NBC schedule that still includes the British Open, all three of the FedEx Cup Playoff events and late-season unofficial events such as the Hero World Challenge and PNC Championship. “It’s a bit TBD and will have a more well-established schedule the next few years.”

Bones said he’s game for whatever Flood and longtime NBC golf producer Tommy Roy, who first hired him for a tryout role at the 2015 RSM Classic, want him to do but he expects to contribute mostly as an on-course reporter. Asked whether he will still pursue caddying, he said, “Television is my No. 1 priority and I’ll do what I did before – if someone is sick or between caddies and needs a guy for a week and it’s not an NBC event, then I’d be happy to help out, but beyond that I will be doing TV primarily as far as what I do for a living.”

Country music star Luke Combs, a big-time golfer, to be featured on 2024 U.S. Open coverage

Sports and music intersections take place all over.

Sports and music intersections take place all over.

For example, golf nut Justin Timberlake, while on stage performing, took a practice swing for LIV Golf’s Sergio Garcia to review. Guess JT is working on his takeaway.

If you like country music, get ready for some Luke Combs on the U.S. Open TV coverage next week.

NBC has announced that Combs will serve up the intro for Saturday’s open to the broadcast ahead of round three and will have some vignettes sprinkled in the weekend coverage.

Combs is a big-time golfer and last week, when his concert tour was in Arizona, made time for a pit stop at Ping to test out some gear.

You could tell he was thrilled when he got access to the gold putter room at Ping.

Then, during his concert at State Farm Stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play, Jon Rahm joined him on stage for some beverages.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak contributed to this article.

2024 U.S. Women’s Open TV viewership down big but attendance was best in nine years

There is good and bad to report from the Open.

The TV ratings for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open are out, according to a report by essentiallysports.com, and it shows the major championship viewership was down considerably from a year ago.

But while there were fewer people watching from home, there were a big number of them on site.

The U.S. Golf Association didn’t release specific attendance figures but did report that it’s the highest-attended USWO since 2015, a year when the tournament grounds were open for seven days, as compared to six this time around.

And the fans that went were spending money. The USGA says hospitality at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, matched the all-time high while it proved to be the best year ever for merchandise sales, including highest average transaction.

As for the TV numbers, though, NBC’s final-round coverage of Yuka Saso’s second USWO title was down considerably from 2023 when the Open was staged at Pebble Beach, pure eye candy for golf viewers at home.

The Essentially Sports report says Sunday viewership was 1.58 million for Pebble but just 943,000 this time around. Saturday’s third round on NBC had 825,000 viewers while Friday’s second round, which was on cable on the USA Network, was 204,000.

It didn’t help that a caravan of big names failed to reach the weekend, including World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

Robert MacIntyre didn’t like the buzzing of the CBS drone one bit and let them know at 2024 RBC Canadian Open

The big wasp in the sky failed to sting MacIntyre on Sunday.

HAMILTON, Ontario – Robert MacIntyre doesn’t like drones.

“If it didn’t go away, I was going to start throwing my clubs at it,” he said. “That’s how annoyed I was getting.”

During Sunday’s final round of the RBC Canadian Open, the CBS Sports drone following his pairing bothered him to end.

It had started on Saturday on the 18th hole but it began in earnest on the drivable par-4 fifth hole when the crowd went silent.

“It’s a big wasp. I asked ’em to get rid of it. They did,” he explained. “Next hole, I’m in the bunker, and sure enough everyone’s silent and all I hear is this buzzing again. I look up and here it is. And, I don’t know, one of the guys must have been getting sick of me. I just kept turning to him because I knew he was the man to go to when that drone starts annoying me because yesterday on 18 it was the same guy. And he just radioed, ‘Get that drone out of here.’”

RBC Canadian Open: Photos | Merchandise | Leaderboard

MacIntyre could be heard saying, “I told you once, I’m not going to tell you again.”

On the CBS broadcast, Jim Nantz, Dottie Pepper, who was following the group, and Trevor Immelman understood that it was disturbing MacIntyre but pushed back that drones are now part of the coverage. A request for a comment from CBS Sports wasn’t answered.

“They were horrible,” MacIntyre’s father, Dougie, who served as his caddie this week, said. “He was getting a wee bit agitated. It takes your concentration. In the back of the head you’re thinking about the buzzing so he called the rules official over.”

That occurred at the ninth fairway when MacIntyre was preparing to hit a wedge to the green.

“All I can hear is this drone again, and I had had enough at that point. Rules official from the R&A was just beside us, and I brought her over, and I said, ‘Look, this drone needs to get out of here. I’ve said it three times now. The drone is annoying me, the drone’s putting me off, it’s too close.’ I mean, it’s easier when the blimps up there, but it’s obviously the weather and stuff and it’s just, I had a job to do, and anything that was getting in my way was getting told to get out of the way. I was focused today and that drone was doing my head, and so I told it to get away.”

MacIntyre’s father said he helped calm down his son, who focused on the task at hand and earned his first Tour title.

“He gets grumpy. That’s his downfall. When he gets grumpy and mad at himself the game goes. He knows it himself,” Dougie said.

But the big wasp in the sky failed to sting MacIntyre on Sunday.

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Adam Scott gets a lesson from CBS’s Trevor Immelman as he chases a 91st straight major start

“I generally tell him to get his head out of his ass.”

HAMILTON, Ontario — Adam Scott possesses one of, if not the most, beautiful swings in golf. But even a Maserati needs a tune-up every once in a while.

On Saturday afternoon, having posted a third-round even-par 70 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club that left him T-49, Scott headed to the range to work on his driver after hitting just 3 of 14 fairways.

“I drove it a step into the first cut on nearly every hole. It was quite remarkable,” said the 43-year-old past Masters champion, pursing his lips in dissatisfaction.

Scott had a second set of eyes checking his every move – CBS’s lead golf analyst, Trevor Immelman, who didn’t have to go on air until 5 p.m. The two longtime friends had dinner Friday night and made an appointment to meet on the range after Scott’s round. Scott currently is without a coach, having parted with his brother-in-law, Brad Malone, around October. Lee Trevino always said he wouldn’t take a lesson from someone who couldn’t beat him. Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, qualifies.

“I’ve enjoyed talking golf with Trevor and it’s just good to have someone that kind of knows me and my game so well so he can go, ‘You’re getting off base, what are you doing?’ ” Scott said. “He’s got a good eye and knowledge.”

RBC Canadian Open: Photos | Merchandise | Leaderboard

Scott said that Immelman has encouraged him to shorten his swing for months but it has been easier said than done.

“It’s good to have a purpose and work on stuff instead of aimlessly fiddling around to find something,” Scott said.

From the sound of things, Immelman was pleased with the length of Scott’s swing as he kept saying, “Yes,” as Scott took turns driving straight as a needle, with a slight fade and a draw on command.

“Adam is one of my best friends and we’ve known each other since we were teenagers,” Immelman wrote in a text. “He’s an amazing human being, all class. I fully believe that he still has what it takes to win at the highest level, and I really hope he does.”

Hitting balls next to Scott with a head cover placed under his right arm pit  was veteran pro Nate Lashley, who stopped to ask Immelman, “Are you trying to give the most perfect swing a lesson?”

Immelman smiled and replied, “I generally tell him to get his head out of his ass.”

Nate Lashley (front) asked Trevor Immelman, right, “Are you trying to give the most perfect swing a lesson?” (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)

Scott tabbed the session with Immelman “very productive,” and it could come in handy for the final round. He could use a low round on Sunday to move up the standings at the Canadian Open. He entered the week at No. 58 in the Official World Golf Ranking. A missed cut at the PGA Championship last month knocked him out of the top 60 in the world for the first time in nearly six years and cost him a berth in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in less than two months. A T-12 at the Colonial last week bumped him back inside the top 60, where he will need to remain following the conclusion of next week’s tournaments to gain a spot in the U.S. Open field. He hasn’t missed a major since the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills, a span of 91 straight starts in men’s golf’s big four.

In 2018, the last time he slipped outside the top 60, he played in a 36-hole qualifier in Columbus, Ohio and earned his way into the field. But Scott said he won’t be playing at Final Qualifying on Monday. He signed up for a site in Ohio — he wasn’t originally planning to play north of the border — and said he’s won’t be there. He also isn’t in the field for next week’s Memorial. That means Sunday’s final round of the RBC Canadian Open is his last chance to make his case. It’s down to the wire, but as Scott noted, “Some weeks you don’t play and you move up in the rankings,” he said, before adding, “I know the situation. It will be what it will be.”