WGC Accenture Match Play
Match scheduled
Date : 24 Feb 2011
Game start : 20 : 00
This week’s WGC Accenture Match Play marks the beginning of the 10 events that will air on the Peacock in 2011. It also is the first time that Golf Channel and NBC will broadcast a tournament since the formation of the NBC Sports Group last month when Comcast bought a majority share in NBC Universal.
Through tournament week – Wednesday through Sunday – the broadcast team will represent a combination of the best of both networks. Golf Channel will carry the coverage until the weekend, when NBC will take over with a presentation similar in style to Golf Channel – same graphics, similar clothing and the same voices.
To preview the event, the combined all-star team of Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, Roger Maltbie, Brandel Chamblee and Nick Faldo hosted a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
The on-air synergy begins on Wednesday with the opening round of the event. Then Golf Channel will air a Golf Central special on Friday evening at 8:30pm ET on the state of the game. Hicks will moderate a panel with Maltbie, Faldo, Chamblee and Miller.
“It’ll be fun to see how we merge our talents and see just how well we can broadcast golf,” Maltbie said on the call.
Hicks lauded the variety and depth of opinion on the panel. All of the men on the call have strong voices and take a different view into the prism that is the sport.
As for the tournament, the Snead Bracket – the part of the draw with Tiger Woods – appears to be the toughest part of the draw. With Tiger Woods, Paul Casey and Geoff Ogilvy, as well as other long hitters, the bracket should be as tough of a test as the Big East is for basketball.
Tiger may be the anchor seed, but he has been wallowing in mediocrity by his standards because of his skittish schedule.
“Tiger has been through an awful lot, and I suspect is still going through an awful lot. I don’t think he can concentrate 100% in his preparation time, which has been his biggest strength,” Faldo said of Woods’ recent struggles. “Match play should help him. You don’t show your cards, exactly how you react to your shot. You grind out. You find your way.”
Faldo added, “Tiger has been good enough to get to Sunday, but not finish it off.”
Miller says he would like to see Woods get back more to controlled shots – like the Stinger – and getting away from the weight on timing in the swing.
Chamblee says the Jones Bracket will likely feature the most upsets. Our predictions here at ProGolfTalk have reflected that.
“There are two mindsets when you play a top player. If you’re in the lower 64, you can choke right off the tee, or say, ‘Hey, I’ve got nothing to lose.’,” Miller said. He added that if the lower guys can get a top player on the ropes, they can gain momentum quickly and strike an upset.
“Some people are born for match play,” he added. “If you ask me, Geoff Ogilvy is the favorite.” (We have him losing to Paul Casey in the quarterfinals.)
The youth movement has confidence, which Miller cautions, could be a mistake.
“These young guys are writing off the older guys, telling them to move aside, and that might come back to bite them.”
Faldo says that the development of new guys is good for the game. He sees up to 20 players with real character that differentiate them from the rest of the pack.
“Whether in what they wear, or how they play, or their attitude. They have great styles,” he said.
Chamblee agrees, speaking of the likes of Jhonattan Vegas, Jonathan Byrd, Alvaro Quiros and others.
“You have a guy like Bubba Watson, who looks like an ant who has been poked with a stick, there is so much movement in that swing,” Chamblee said. “And that makes me interested [in him] as a fan and a commentator.”
WATCH LIVE GOLF TV
Match scheduled
Date : 24 Feb 2011
Game start : 20 : 00
This week’s WGC Accenture Match Play marks the beginning of the 10 events that will air on the Peacock in 2011. It also is the first time that Golf Channel and NBC will broadcast a tournament since the formation of the NBC Sports Group last month when Comcast bought a majority share in NBC Universal.
Through tournament week – Wednesday through Sunday – the broadcast team will represent a combination of the best of both networks. Golf Channel will carry the coverage until the weekend, when NBC will take over with a presentation similar in style to Golf Channel – same graphics, similar clothing and the same voices.
To preview the event, the combined all-star team of Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, Roger Maltbie, Brandel Chamblee and Nick Faldo hosted a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
The on-air synergy begins on Wednesday with the opening round of the event. Then Golf Channel will air a Golf Central special on Friday evening at 8:30pm ET on the state of the game. Hicks will moderate a panel with Maltbie, Faldo, Chamblee and Miller.
“It’ll be fun to see how we merge our talents and see just how well we can broadcast golf,” Maltbie said on the call.
Hicks lauded the variety and depth of opinion on the panel. All of the men on the call have strong voices and take a different view into the prism that is the sport.
As for the tournament, the Snead Bracket – the part of the draw with Tiger Woods – appears to be the toughest part of the draw. With Tiger Woods, Paul Casey and Geoff Ogilvy, as well as other long hitters, the bracket should be as tough of a test as the Big East is for basketball.
Tiger may be the anchor seed, but he has been wallowing in mediocrity by his standards because of his skittish schedule.
“Tiger has been through an awful lot, and I suspect is still going through an awful lot. I don’t think he can concentrate 100% in his preparation time, which has been his biggest strength,” Faldo said of Woods’ recent struggles. “Match play should help him. You don’t show your cards, exactly how you react to your shot. You grind out. You find your way.”
Faldo added, “Tiger has been good enough to get to Sunday, but not finish it off.”
Miller says he would like to see Woods get back more to controlled shots – like the Stinger – and getting away from the weight on timing in the swing.
Chamblee says the Jones Bracket will likely feature the most upsets. Our predictions here at ProGolfTalk have reflected that.
“There are two mindsets when you play a top player. If you’re in the lower 64, you can choke right off the tee, or say, ‘Hey, I’ve got nothing to lose.’,” Miller said. He added that if the lower guys can get a top player on the ropes, they can gain momentum quickly and strike an upset.
“Some people are born for match play,” he added. “If you ask me, Geoff Ogilvy is the favorite.” (We have him losing to Paul Casey in the quarterfinals.)
The youth movement has confidence, which Miller cautions, could be a mistake.
“These young guys are writing off the older guys, telling them to move aside, and that might come back to bite them.”
Faldo says that the development of new guys is good for the game. He sees up to 20 players with real character that differentiate them from the rest of the pack.
“Whether in what they wear, or how they play, or their attitude. They have great styles,” he said.
Chamblee agrees, speaking of the likes of Jhonattan Vegas, Jonathan Byrd, Alvaro Quiros and others.
“You have a guy like Bubba Watson, who looks like an ant who has been poked with a stick, there is so much movement in that swing,” Chamblee said. “And that makes me interested [in him] as a fan and a commentator.”
WATCH LIVE GOLF TV
