Gary Woodland provided some on-course drama and some interesting stories about his life beyond the links.getty images
Fox Sports’ U.S. Open production from Pebble Beach this month was the network’s best golf telecast in the five years that Fox has produced the tournament, according to every person who has discussed the network’s production with me — Fox executives, rival network executives, reporters and fans.
But that improvement does not mean Fox’s golf production is on par yet with rival networks like CBS and NBC. Every sports media source I contacted last week cited the lack of reps from Fox’s limited golf coverage as a main reason for that. Fox’s reduced golf schedule means that announcers, producers and cameramen aren’t used to working with each other.
That filters down to the viewer. I thought Joe Buck did a fine job as host, but I don’t associate his voice with a major golf tournament in the same way I do with Jim Nantz or Dan Hicks. I can hear Verne Lundquist’s voice on the 16th hole when I think of The Masters. Fox doesn’t have that. That takes both time and experience to develop.
Fox holds the rights to all USGA events through 2026. With the PGA Tour rights coming up in 2021, it would seem that Fox would be interested — if only to build out its golf schedule.
When Fox surprised the industry in 2013 with a 12-year deal for USGA rights, it was assumed that it would become a serious player for PGA Tour rights, too. But multiple sources tell me it’s unlikely Fox will make a serious effort to bid on the PGA Tour rights when the tour’s deals with CBS and NBC end.
Still, last week was one where Fox could take a bow.
It’s easy to pin Fox’s success on the location — Pebble Beach provides breathtaking views and a prime-time time slot. None of my sources believe that Fox would have had the same success if it produced a U.S. Open from Pebble Beach in the first two years of its deal. The 2015 U.S. Open from Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., when the network’s coverage was ridiculed, seems like a long time ago.
Pebble Beach provided the scenery and Fox took advantage of it. The secret to Fox’s success was, simply, that Fox didn’t let it slip through its fingers. It took advantage of the course and the tournament’s storylines.
That excitement could be felt in Fox’s production compound throughout the event.
At one point on Saturday, as eventual champion Gary Woodland battled Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka for the lead, analyst Paul Azinger contacted Mark Loomis, Fox Sports’ executive producer of USGA programming, in the truck and said, “That has to be the best stretch of golf on Fox ever.”
That was a sentiment shared by many others, including Loomis, who was enthused Sunday morning even though the U.S. Open leader board didn’t have a marquee name like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. “People are going to be rooting for Gary Woodland by the time this show is over,” he said.
Loomis was excited about stories he could tell about Woodland, a golfer generally unknown to casual golf fans. Loomis had a piece about Woodland’s connection with a girl who has Down syndrome and participates in the Special Olympics for golf. He had another story about Woodland’s wife suffering a miscarriage a couple of years ago; they are now expecting twins.
It wasn’t just the leaders. When I asked my friend Joe House, who hosts a golf podcast for The Ringer, for his thoughts, he brought up a Fox feature about the young woman dedicated to removing balls from Stillwater Cove. He also pointed to another feature about the course’s Tap Room.
“Fox really seems to be getting the hang of it in terms of storytelling,” House said.
I also was impressed with the drone footage Fox used, which enhanced the telecast and framed those familiar Pebble Beach holes in ways I had never seen before. I generally am not a fan of production gimmicks like drones, which I don’t believe add anything meaningful to the telecast. But golf lends itself to drone shots — especially Pebble Beach, which provided beautiful sweeping shots from over the water.
Interestingly, the PGA Tour does not allow live drone shots, believing that the drones are too noisy and too risky to fly over crowds.
John Ourand can be reached at jourand@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ourand_SBJ.
