The network is employing more than 200 on-course microphones for this year's coverage; it has put them everywhere, from the tee boxes and fairways to the cups on all 18 greens. In the past, Fox's tiny eavesdropping devices have picked up fascinating chatter between golfers. Remember that conversation between Dustin Johnson and Jason Day before DJ's fateful three-putt on the 18th hole at Chambers Bay in 2015? Or Spieth muttering the same year that the 18th was the "dumbest" hole he'd played? Great stuff. On Thursday, viewers didn't get many revealing nuggets between opposing players or between players and their caddies. Instead, they heard a lot from a loud and proud New York crowd.
It was like listening to the soused, rowdy crew at the notorious 16th hole of the Phoenix Open. Technology giveth, and it taketh away. It's hard to blame Fox for spectators running their yaps. Most of us have been stuck in crowds with bozos who think they're hilarious, and crowds at major sporting events have become louder, drunker and more in-your-face over the years. Still, the mics picking up these bozos hurt the broadcast. As a viewer, I found it distracting to hear that stuff on nearly every hole, every shot. I know this is a U.S. Open just outside the Big Apple and not the Masters, where the "patrons" (and announcers) are petrified to say anything that would get them ejected from the hallowed grounds of Augusta National Golf Club, but I wonder whether there's a better way to capture the sights and sounds of the U.S. Open while also filtering out some of the nonsense. I do like Fox's innovative use of ball tracing, Trackman radar technology, FlightTrack for fairway shots, Green Reader and other bells and whistles that drive many viewers from the white-shoe, country-club crowd crazy.
The top pros like Johnson and Tiger Woods can shape and curve their shots like magicians, and it's fascinating to see some of the amazing breaks on usually lightning-fast U.S. Open greens. In fact, other PGA Tour partners are copying part of what Fox has done in its three years of major golf coverage. MORE: Tee times, how to watch the U.S. Open Fox also had plenty of strong moments Thursday as it chronicled the struggles of top golfers at the windy and difficult Shinnecock Hills. Host Joe Buck has become more comfortable and skilled at calling golf, and analyst Curtis Strange had a terrific one-one-one interview with Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods' original coach/mentor.
Strange asked Harmon if Woods could win at Shinnecock. Only if he straightened out his driving, replied Harmon, who said the issue with the 42-year old Woods is that he's still trying to match the power-hitting young bucks on the tour.It’s his ego to try and keep up with the young players, how far he hits it, but I think if he could dial it back a little bit and put the ball in play, I think he’d win a lot again," Harmon said of his former star pupil, who last won a tournament in 2013. Cut to Woods standing in knee-high rough after another errant drive. He finished with an 8-over-par 78, his worst U.S. Open score. I didn't have a real problem with Fox devoting so much coverage to Woods, even though he began his round with an ugly triple bogey on No. 1. The way he's playing, Woods might not make the cut, so Fox has to get maximum mileage out of his presence. Plus, he was in a glamour TV pairing with favorites Johnson and world No. 1 Justin Thomas.
| By | buzai232 |
| Added | Jun 17 '18, 11:00PM |
The Wall