Fox' coverage of next week's U.S. Open at Oakmont "will be different than last year," though it would be "hard not to improve on what the network delivered," according to Pete Dougherty of the Albany TIMES UNION. Paul Azinger replaces Greg Norman in the booth, and Curtis Strange joins the net's broadcast as a reporter. Whether that will be "enough to make viewers forget last year's production, which was universally panned by critics, will play out during 36½ hours of coverage" beginning Thursday on Fox and FS1. Cameras last year "couldn't follow the ball," and full leaderboards "were rarely shown." Fox would "find a storyline and latch on to it like it was a bucking bronco, ignoring other elements of the tournament." However, the Fox production "believes a different venue is critical." Rather than first-time U.S. Open course Chambers Bay, "whose yellow blotches made it difficult to locate the ball, the tournament will be played outside of Pittsburgh at Oakmont for the ninth time." If anything can "help enhance Fox's golf reputation, it will be at the technological end." Protracer, which "graphically tracks players' tee shots and one of the few positives about Fox's coverage last year, will be used more extensively" (Albany TIMES UNION, 6/10).
TEE IT UP: GOLFWEEK's Martin Kaufmann noted Fox will "use a graphic that shades greens to illustrate the slopes." Fox Sports Coordinating Producer Mark Loomis said, "We will tell a really good story with the greens and the shading technology." Kaufmann writes one area where Fox "excelled in its first year was in picking up on-course audio of players and caddies." At Oakmont, Fox will "have microphones on all 18 holes to capture audio on the greens." Protracer will be "set up on 13 tee boxes, and Loomis plans to use it whenever possible." Trackman technology will be on holes 4 and 12 to "capture data on clubhead speed, ball speed, launch angle, spin rate and carry figures." New this year "are radio-frequency mobile rangefinders to provide yardages and tracers for approach shots" (GOLFWEEK.com, 6/8).
LEARNING AS WE GO: In N.Y., Justin Terranova writes Norman, who was replaced after one year with Fox, was "not viewed as the biggest problem last year, but he did not shine in the same manner the blunt Azinger showed himself capable of during his time with ESPN." Norman was "mostly silent when the players took repeated jabs at Chambers Bay -- and despite his own difficulty in big spots as a player -- added little perspective to Dustin Johnson's devastating 3-putt on 18 that handed the title to Jordan Spieth." Joe Buck said that he "did learn from last year." Buck: "I was completely caught up in managing the scoreboard. ... It's by far the fastest event sitting in the chair, and until you are there you have no idea what it's like. I had no idea what it took" (N.Y. POST, 6/10).
