Fox on Saturday made its golf debut with the final-round telecast of the Franklin Templeton Shootout, and tournament host and color analyst Greg Norman said he and broadcast partner Joe Buck "nailed the broadcast," according to Dave Kempton of the Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS. Norman said, "I even had texts from PGA Tour players during the telecast on how good the telecast was. Our mission from the very start was to do great work. And I've got a good guy right next to me" (Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS, 12/14) In Florida, Greg Hardwig noted Fox "had some multicolored swing planes of golfers' swings, used a drone to do the flyover overviews of the holes, and came out of one commercial break with a golf ball flying through a pane of glass that revealed the Shootout trophy through the shattered pane." Buck and Norman "were both upbeat" following the telecast (NAPLES DAILY NEWS, 12/14).
GETTING STARTED: The broadcast began with a taped intro featuring Buck saying of Fox’ entrance into golf, “There’s a new kid on the block.” The intro then featured various Fox Sports’ NFL personalities, including Buck’s broadcast partner Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, all asking, “Has anybody seen Joe,” or, “Where’s Joe?” Then Aikman said, “He’s doing what?” Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson followed by saying, “Golf?” Menefee added, “On Fox?” Switching back to live coverage, Buck said, "I realize one thing: People at home don't care who’s covering it, they just want to sit on their couch and watch golf. So there's only one real way for us at Fox to start this venture and that is humbly. When you get into this situation you realize how hard it is to cover golf and make it look seamless. ... I know all of us at Fox want to do it as well to the fine folks of CBS … and just changing and revolutionizing the way golf is covered on television and that's up to present day, or NBC and Golf Channel or ABC and ESPN or TNT. Right now we're not worthy. Some day, maybe we will be. We’re going to have a lot fun. What we hope to do is educate with our experts here on the golf course. We hope to innovate. ... But most of all in the promise we made at Fox to the USGA is we're going to respect this great game.” Buck then introduced Norman, saying, “We're in your backyard. We're playing your golf course, we're playing on grass that you invented, we're drinking your wine, we're wearing your clothes, whatever it is. Good to be with you.” Norman: "It's a new chapter in my life to be sitting beside you, listening to all the games you’ve called, from the Super Bowls to the World Series, it's just an honor to be here” (“Franklin Templeton Shootout,” Fox, 12/13).
FINDING THE ROUGH: GOLF DIGEST's Geoff Shackelford wrote Fox' "first foray into golf broadcasting featured one compelling moment in four hours dominated by too much announcer talk and a rough-edged production." Billy Horschel and Ian Poulter "both drove into a far portion of the 17th-hole fairway bunker only to find their path to the green obstructed by a camera tower." Both players "wanted the camera on the tower removed." Horschel said, "Hey dude with the camera in the tower, are you able to move that camera that way. Buddy we're talking to you." Shackelford noted the "harassment continued as the Fox announce team (for once Saturday) kept quiet." But Horschel "kept up the badgering." Horschel: "What if he just lowers it to underneath the bar? Can you lower it?" The cameraman "finally spoke," and said, "I'm going to walk away." But it was "not the answer Horschel was looking for." He said, "Who told you to walk away? No no no, buddy, don't walk. Don't leave yet. Who told you can't do it?" Shackelford wrote Fox' decision to have former USGA Exec Dir David Fay on hand as an analyst "proved brilliant, as Fay was able to explain the dynamics of the situation while allowing Norman to point out that Poulter and Horschel would not have wanted to take drops anyway because their golf balls would have plugged in the sand." Norman and Buck "mocked the badgering of the cameraman, with Buck noting it was against union rules." The "entire escapade had wasted a lot of time but gave the Fox team a chance to shine by largely staying out of the way" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 12/13).
