Some more input on the PGA´s scheduling problems...
"Late thoughts on the PGA fiasco
August 18, 2005
by Frank Hannigan. During Frank Hannigan's 28 year tenure with the USGA he was at the table for TV negotations nine times
When a tournament is scheduled to end is a matter of intense negotiation between the owners and the networks.
In general, the networks prefer a late finish because later means more viewers — higher Nielsen ratings, Advertisers get a somewhat bigger buck for their money. The scheduled time for finish appears as a clause in the contract.
The owners, in this case the PGA of America, have a solemn obligation to establish a realistic schedule, one that affords a high probability the event will finish on the scheduled day.
The PGA of America can dig in its heels saying it will not schedule any finish later than 6 p.m..
The network, CBS, isn't going to walk out the door. It will say "OK, if you finish at 6 rather than 7 we can't give you as much money."
The PGA of America's acceptance of a 7 p.m. finish time at Baltusrol was cowardly because it does not need the money.
The PGA of America is loaded. Not as much as the USGA, which has an investment portfolio worth $250,000,000, but then one suspects the USGA is preparing to make a run at Bill Gates' empire.
What the PGA of America did is even worse than it appears.
They are tremendously proud of the three-hole playoff system in the event of the tie. OK. So they've scheduled a 7 p.m. finish. Let's assume there is a tie, which happens about once every three years.
Sunset in New Jersey was 7:55 pm on the day in question. It will take them five minutes between the end of play and the start of the playoff. That leaves 50 minutes. Can you do a three-hole playoff in 50 minutes? Not if young Ben Crane is in it.
Should there be playoffs involving more than two players, as has happened twice in recent British Opens, there is no chance of finishing a three-hole playoff.
The PGA of America thus gives us the essence of irresponsibility, a con supreme, in order to make a few more bucks.
The USGA did the same sort of thing at its celebrated Open at Bethpage by scheduling an 8 p.m. finish.
That wasn't even in their contract. NBC Executives asked for an exception, the USGA rolled over , and Tiger Woods played his last hole in the dark.
The Masters is another matter entirely.
At Augusta they are running an honest to God sporting event. If there is a dicey weather forecast for Sunday the starting times, even though already announced, are advanced by an hour or whatever it takes.
CBS? At Augusta it speaks only when spoken to and not too loudly.
It is of some irony that the fiasco happened at Baltusrol.
When the l967 Open was played at Baltusrol — the one Nicklaus won after hitting an ungodly l iron to the final green — there was a monumental thunder storm immediately after Nicklaus and his fellow competitor, one Arnold Palmer, holed out.
The USGA Executive Committee at its next meeting voted unanimously that it would never again schedule a U.S. Open to end after 6 p.m. so that it would have more than two hours, on the year's longest days to cope with weather delays.
That action was simply ignored by the present crop of USGA nickel-and-dimers at Bethpage.
Ah, there were giants in those days. There are weasels in these days."