Tiger Woods' first competitive round in more than two months and Jordan Spieth's record-setting score helped ESPN draw its highest overnight rating for first-round coverage of The Masters since '10. ESPN drew a 2.4 overnight on Thursday from 3:00-7:15pm ET. Woods’ group, which included Jamie Donaldson and Jimmy Walker, teed off at 1:48pm and was playing the fifth hole when ESPN's coverage began. Spieth also played the majority of his round in the broadcast window. The overnight is up 60% from a 1.5 rating last year, when Woods did not play due to injury. Rory McIlroy had an early start in ’14, while Phil Mickelson played in the next-to-last group with Ernie Els and Justin Rose. Woods played the event in ’13, which drew a 2.1 overnight for Thursday coverage. But Woods’ trio, which included Luke Donald and Scott Piercy, teed off at 10:48am and finished shortly after the ESPN broadcast began (THE DAILY).
DELAYED TEE TIME: In Chicago, Ed Sherman writes The Masters "still is sticking with its arcane policy of limiting live coverage of the tournament." While it has "improved a bit in recent years, it still is much less than the marathon telecasts for golf's other three majors." Despite the "annual complaints from golf viewers who would tune in to watch grass grow at Augusta National, club officials seem entrenched with their position for now." But instead of "complaining, tune into Masters.com for more coverage" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/10). GOLF DIGEST's Sam Weinman gave the tournament's TV times a "bogey," noting The Masters' "insistence on limiting TV coverage is so maddening." As opposed to the other three majors that "essentially provide wall-to-wall coverage once play begins, the Masters broadcast doesn't come on" until 3:00pm ET the first three days. Weinman: "We've been waiting eight months for this tournament! Can't we get a peek a little earlier?" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 4/9).
HARD HABIT TO BREAK: In Cincinnati, Paul Daugherty wrote it is a "failure of journalistic imagination and ambition that my colleagues still write wall-to-wall" about Woods. It is also the "sign of a sport in decline." Golf became "Tiger-addicted nearly 20 years ago, and can't kick the habit" (CINCINNATI.com, 4/9).CSNBAYAREA.com's Ray Ratto noted ESPN's cameras on Thursday caught Woods saying “dumbass” during his opening round. Ratto: "Many people who cover and pay attention to golf thought it was noteworthy. It wasn’t. Golf is dead" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 4/9).
A TRADITION UNLIKE ANY OTHER: In Albany, Pete Dougherty conducted a Q&A with CBS' Jim Nantz, who talked about the transition of going from calling the Final Four to The Masters. Nantz said, "It's such a bubble that you live in for three weeks. Everybody thinks, oh, it's only at the Final Four, but everybody forgets you did a regional before that, with two prime-time games and a regional final, and the week before that you did six games, and the week before the (in the Big Ten Tournament) you did three games. You add it all up, you do 15 games in 23 days, and the amount of preparation that goes into that is immense." But he said, "As soon as I put my feet on the ground here at Augusta, it's like an instant Vitamin B-12 energy shot. You feel so blessed to be here that you get a second wind." Asked about the 60-year relationship between CBS and The Masters, Nantz said, "It's the greatest relationship in sports broadcasting. ... The longevity of it says a lot, speaks to a certain level of trust and standards of excellence and expectation. ... I hope I can be given that chance, that CBS thinks I'm the guy to be doing it that many years down the road, that my health is good. In my mind, I'm planning on it" (Albany TIMES UNION, 4/10).
PITCH & PUTT: ESPN averaged 1.08 million viewers for The Masters Par 3 contest on Wednesday afternoon, marking the net's best audience for the event since it began televising the first major of the year in '08. The Par 3 event featured Woods playing for the first time since '04 and Jack Nicklaus scoring his first hole-in-one at Augusta National. ESPN's previous Par 3 record was 1.007 million viewers in '10 (ESPN).
