NBC earned a 6.1 overnight rating for the final round of the U.S. Open yesterday from 1:00-7:45pm ET, which saw Justin Rose win his first major by two strokes over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day. That figure marks the best final round overnight for a U.S. Open on the East Coast since ’07 at Oakmont Country Club. Last year’s final round, which aired from Olympic Club in S.F., earned a 6.6 overnight (4:00-10:30pm) for Webb Simpson’s win. The last U.S. Open on the East Coast -- which was held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda in ’11 -- earned a 5.1 overnight for Rory McIlroy’s eight-stroke victory. Yesterday’s coverage peaked at a 9.4 rating during the 7:00-7:30pm window (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor). In Tampa, Tom Jones writes NBC's golf coverage typically is "outstanding and far more preferable than what you will find on any of the other networks," but it felt like there "was something missing from the weekend coverage of the U.S. Open." Jones: "It just wasn't up to NBC's standards." The production was "fine" and the replays "were outstanding," but it felt like analysts Johnny Miller and Gary Koch "were the only ones who said anything interesting." The net "could have used" former on-course reporter Dottie Pepper over the weekend (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 6/17). SI.com's Richard Deitsch writes he was "really impressed " with ESPN Radio's coverage of the U.S. Open yesterday, as host Bob Wischusen "guided the coverage from hole to hole with professionalism and knowledge" (SI.com, 6/17).
TAKING ITS TIME: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes in NBC's first 65 minutes of live coverage of the third round, "only one shot was seen of a player taking a shot that counted." It appeared as if Webb Simpson's tee shot on the 1st hole was "being seen live ... but, logically, it could not have been live, as Simpson, on a good-weather day, had been scheduled to start 12 minutes earlier." It was "not until 1:06, 66 minutes after signing on from Merion, when NBC showed its first discernibly live shot of a player -- in this case, Bubba Watson -- competing in the U.S. Open" (N.Y. POST, 6/17).
IN THE BOOTH: YAHOO SPORTS' Jay Busbee wrote Miller "never met a golfer he couldn't peck to pieces," and he does "make sure that you know he's certain he's the smartest guy not only on the course, but on both sides of the TV screen." Meanwhile, ESPN's Chris Berman "simply does not belong on a golf broadcast." Busbee: "We can hope that ESPN will see that it already has a superior golf voice in-house in Scott Van Pelt, and scale back Berman's involvement even further. We can hope that someone will do something someday to impress Johnny Miller." Major championship golf is "too good a story on its own to let the storytellers get in the way" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/15).
