Catching Up With '91 Open Champ, Golf Analyst Ian Baker-Finch
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| Golf Analyst Ian Baker-Finch |
IAN BAKER-FINCH is serving as a TNT analyst this week in his return to the British Open Championship, which he won in '91. The native of Australia, who started with ABC in '98 and now calls tournaments for CBS, spoke recently with SportsBusiness Journal Staff Writer Jon Show.
Player to watch this week: LEE WESTWOOD.
Favorite course: Royal Birkdale (where he won the ‘91 Open).
Favorite golf writers: TOM RAMSEY, who wrote in Australia for 40 years. And BOB VERDI -- I like his style. He’s out there with the guys every week and walks the course.
Favorite of the four majors: The Open Championship is the major of the majors.
Favorite new technology in televised golf: The 3D renderings CBS used during The Masters (Archiform 3D).
Q: The Open was the site of some very good, and very bad, memories for you over the years. What is it like to return?
Baker-Finch: I’m looking forward to it. The hardest time at any Open Championship for me was going back in 1998 to Royal Birkdale for ABC, not playing for the first time in 15 years. Once I got over that Open I was fine. I’m a TV guy now. I shed a lot of tears then and went up and spent some time with (champion and friend) MARK O'MEARA after the trophy presentation and that was really the end of my playing career. I’m 10 years on and I’m looking forward to going back. I’ll probably be able to walk around proud as a TV announcer and a past champion.
Q: You’ve won professional golf tournaments all over the world. Assess the state of the game worldwide?
Baker-Finch: I think the professional game is in extremely good shape. I think having TIGER WOODS as the most recognizable athlete on the planet is great for the game. He’s brought a lot of non-golfers to the game and a lot of excitement to the game, I think more than anyone since ARNOLD PALMER and JACK NICKLAUS. … The other side of that, I think golf courses have become far too difficult. In modern course architecture we’re losing a lot of potential new players because they’ll play a couple times and say it’s too hard and too costly.
Q: What is the second-best professional golf tour in the world?
Baker-Finch: The European Tour. … It’s grown as the Europeans have dominated the Ryder Cup over the last two decades.
Q: Which tour is doing a better job of global expansion?
Baker-Finch: I think the PGA Tour brand has done a better job of global expansion. I think their brand is synonymous with the No. 1 tour in the world. The European Tour is expanding around the globe, but I think they needed to. They’ve gone into Asia, South America, Australia and Africa. They’re almost like a world tour but it’s still not a well-recognized-enough brand. You never see the top players leaving the U.S. tour to go play in Europe, it’s the Europeans who come play the U.S. tour.
Q: There’s always that rumor out there that Tiger or PHIL [MICKELSON] would try to get their European cards. Do you think that will ever happen?
Baker-Finch: No, no.
Q: You were a torch bearer at the Sydney Games. What are the chances of golf making it into the Olympics?
Baker-Finch: I think there’s a good chance. I think there are a lot more organizations behind it now. When and where it happens, I don’t know.
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McCord's Ability To Remain Competitive
On Champions Tour Impresses Finch |
Q: Do any of the analysts you work with still have the game to compete on the PGA Tour?
Baker-Finch: Now there’s compete and there’s compete (laughs). If you were competitive and could still win majors you wouldn’t be in the booth. The most competitive announcer -- he’s sort of a part-timer now -- is PAUL AZINGER, and he’ll be at the Open. ... GARY MCCORD still amazes me. He’s 60 and still plays well on the Champions Tour and he only plays half a dozen tournaments a year. I play with Gary every Friday when we’re working for CBS and he’s very competitive.
Q: Any good stories? Everyone’s got a McCord story.
Baker-Finch: He talks a better game than I do. So you’ve got to beat his clubs and his mouth. They call him "Magic." He comes from a different planet and he’s got a different mind.
Q: You’ve never been outspokenly critical of players, which seems to be representative of most golf announcers. Why is that?
Baker-Finch: I think the level of play is so good now that it’s very hard to criticize any of the players. If you’re criticizing the guys that are doing well on the weekends it’s more of a schtick. … If someone hits a bad shot, I’m glad to say, "That was a shitty shot." But at the same time I’m also talking from a player perspective. There’s a reason why someone hits a bad shot. Instead of saying, "What a jerk. He choked," I would try to explain what happened rather than say a guy was choking or made a terrible shot.
Q: You remain close to the players. What is the sentiment with Tiger being on the shelf for up to a year?
Baker-Finch: Everyone’s disappointed from a business standpoint. The Tour will miss Tiger Woods. The television companies are going to have lesser ratings and generate fewer dollars from sales. It’s going to be tough to maintain where the bar has been set for the last few years. But with his absence there are going to be some guys who take advantage of it and win a major or two. When Tiger plays, the rest of the field is playing for second.
Q: What does it do to year two of the FedEx Cup?
Baker-Finch: I don’t think it necessarily hurts. I don’t think anyone will remember next year that STEVE STRICKER won the FedEx Cup in 2008 while Tiger couldn’t compete. I don’t think it will really matter in the long term.
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