Whether it's golf or the Olympics or soccer or whatever (other than NFL Football, apparently) the suits at the TV networks believe that play of the sport itself is merely the framework on which to hang their ignorant pandering to the non-sports-lovers who might somehow, magically decide to tune in for soap opera stuff. I believe teh assumption is that anyone wanting to actually see, you know, golf being played will sit there like a captive audience no matter how much dreck they cut away to. And that the dreck will attract dreck-lovers, to boot.