NBC yesterday drew a 3.9 overnight rating for the final round of the British Open, which saw Henrik Stenson capture his first major following a Sunday duel with Phil Mickelson. The figure yesterday from 9:15am-2:00pm ET marked the best final round for the event since it last aired on broadcast TV in the U.S. in '09, when ABC also drew a 3.9 overnight for Stewart Cink's four-hole playoff win over Tom Watson. Last year, the event finished on a Monday, with ESPN drawing a 2.6 overnight as Zach Johnson held off Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a four-hole playoff. ESPN in ’14 for its Sunday final telecast also drew a 2.6 overnight, as Rory McIlroy held off Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia. ESPN’s British Open coverage peaked in ’13 (3.6 overnight), when Mickelson won the event. Meanwhile, NBC drew a 2.8 overnight for third-round coverage, which compares to ABC’s 2.4 rating in ’09 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
PLAYING TO ITS STRENGTHS: GOLFWEEK's Martin Kaufmann wrote though this was NBC/Golf Channel's first year broadcasting the tournament, they will be "hard pressed to get a more memorable final round during the remainder of their R&A partnership." NBC "smartly kept the focus on the course and, specifically, the final group." It "made the rare decision to assign two reporters to the final group -- Roger Maltbie following Mickelson and David Feherty tracking Stenson." That resulted in the "added benefit of getting more airtime for Feherty, who sometimes seems like an afterthought in NBC’s coverage." NBC did a "poor job of capturing on-course audio," and there also could have been "more use of Protracer, but that apparently was hindered by technical problems." However, those criticisms are "nitpicking on the margins." When there is "great competition," there is "no need for a TV network to overthink it." Kaufmann: "Just show it and let us enjoy it. That's what NBC did" (GOLFWEEK.com, 7/17). GOLF WORLD's John Strege writes NBC's "efforts were equal to the task" during the tourney. If there was a "nit to pick," it was that, on a links course especially, it "could have benefited from a more expansive use of the Protracer technology." But NBC/Golf Channel "hit all the right notes," from Feherty "wearing a kilt on Saturday" to an amusing feature on Andrew "Beef" Johnston yesterday. NBC Exec Producer Tommy Roy "even fulfilled his goal of showing each of the 155 players in the field" (GOLF WORLD MONDAY, 7/18 issue).
THE QUIET GAME: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick notes Mickelson on Saturday stood on the tee of the par-3 8th hole "discussing matters" with his caddie Jim Mackay when NBC threw it to announcer Gary Koch. On the back of the tee, the "sound of Mickelson pulling a club from his bag clearly could be heard" while Koch and analyst Johnny Miller discussed the hole's difficulty. Viewers would have "clearly heard the entire conversation" between Mickelson and Mackay had the NBC crew of Miller, Koch and play-by-play man Dan Hicks "allowed it." There was "so much time and room for NBC’s truck to have ordered a halt to NBC conversation to hear the conversation that was more pertinent than any and all words exchanged among NBC’s team" (N.Y. POST, 7/18).
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: GOLFWEEK's Kaufmann noted a chief criticism of ESPN over the years was that it "used to turn its early weekend coverage into a studio show." So it "was nice" on Saturday at 4:00am ET to see "plenty of live action" on Golf Channel. That might be the "single-biggest change, for the better," in NBC's first year. It "helped that popular Americans such as Jordan Spieth, Brandt Snedeker and Bubba Watson were in the early groups" (GOLFWEEK.com, 7/16).
TWITTER REAX: Fox Sports' Tim Brando: "Gotta hand it to NBC. They've worked @miketirico into a Jack Whitaker type role and fits perfectly. Ensemble of great golf talent. Enjoying." MLive Media Group's Brendan Quinn: "Mike Tirico is so effortlessly good at his job that it's nearly annoying." USA Today's Dan Wolken: "Johnny Miller: Rory got carried away with wearing tight shirts to show off his muscles and it hurt his golf game. That was a real take." Stand-up comedian Joe Zimmerman: "Johnny Miller announcing British Open on NBC: 'Me, me, my career, I remember during my time, me, ooh missed opportunity there for Phil.'"
