Curtis Strange's dumb comment about the 14th hole at Erin Hills

[Bill Brightly]

Did you here it? DJ hits his second shot on par five 14th short and left. Has a 30 yard pitch of a huge rise, can barely see the flag and leaves it 60 feet long. (Leading to three putt bogey...)  Curtis says this is "quirky" shot, clearly implying that is unfair. I think it was Azinger who nailed him, saying it was a par 5 and so the architect would do more on the green, and DJ never should have been on the left. It was awesome!

[Jason Thurman]

I thought we liked quirky.

[Carl Johnson]

A little off the topic, but so far I think that the commentary has been mediocre, and that's being kind.  Is it just me?  Or is it that we get used to certain kinds of commentary (CBS/NBC) and so the new guys sound strange, no, I didn't mean that, but flat and nothing insightful?

[Matthew Essig]

I love the chemistry between Azinger and Faxon. Buck is meh, but he does make for a solid base for coming in and out of commercials and what not.


In the B team, you have a dynamic similar to NBC and CBS with Shane O'Donoghue being the solid base and Darren Clarke being the veteran going off on tangents about his own experiences....
Oh, and Strange is there....

[John Kavanaugh]

How is Gil Hanse not enough? It's like everyone is looking for reasons not to love this tournament. Are you all GolfWeek guys?

[jeffwarne]

I thought Strange and Azingers conversation was perfect and on an average nongeek level quite educational.(for viewers at large)
The subject was at least addressed and discussed,albeit it in quite  a rudimentay fashion, rather than simply glorified a la CBS.

[Tim Martin]

Please bring back Johnny Miller!!! Azinger takes every opportunity possible to equate Ryder Cup experience with that of the Battle of the Bulge or a shoot out at the OK Corral. We know you captained a winning Ryder Cup squad and as American's appreciate it but try to get over yourself. Additionally he tries way to hard to make insightful comments when the action speaks for itself. I don't find much synergy between the crew and wonder about the decision making process to put them together. For me the broadcast is bailed out by the golf course so I have that going for me, which is nice.

[Greg Chambers]

It's not a sign bad as Azinger continuously telling us that the sand here is so granular...uhhhh...really?!?

[Matthew Essig]

It's not a sign bad as Azinger continuously telling us that the sand here is so granular...uhhhh...really?!?

I mean... it is important to note. The "sand" is a bunch of pebbles.

[Jon Wiggett]

I thought we liked quirky.

+1.


I do not understand how what he said implied he meant it was unfair. Anyway, who said it had to be fair Bill?

[Ronald Montesano]

how about we all go home and record our own selves, doing commentary? Then, wetransfer.com it to me and I'll create a respository of fine analysis.


i would love to know what types of training and CPE the commentators receive. at the very, minimal least, I would like to think that they receive voice training, enunciation lessons, cultural-awareness lessons (so that they don't go all Les Nessman on Chi Chi Rodriguez), vocabulary-enhancement (so that they learn that there are more than 10 verbs in the English language) and...well that's enough for starters.

[Steve Sayre]

I think the Fox commentary is weak.  I know these guys are all fine people, but the virtually nonstop talking and the the overly obvious, cliché-laden remarks are a real turn-off for me.  Rather than catalog examples, which you defenders may demand, let me just say I miss Miller and team.  Maybe Fox will eventually get it right, they have years to refine. But for me, now, not good.

[Kalen Braley]

I don't know who is worse....Joe Buck or Chris Berman...


At least Strange and Azinger are doable, but please please can I have a button on my remote to just mute Joe Buck....

[JLahrman]

I don't know who is worse....Joe Buck or Chris Berman...


At least Strange and Azinger are doable, but please please can I have a button on my remote to just mute Joe Buck....

Good God, how can anyone be worse than Chris Berman? Joe Buck isn't my favorite but I've never understood why so many people dislike him so intently. But Chris Berman is the absolute bottom of the barrel. He's awful in the sport he's supposed to be good at, and even worse at other sports.

[jeffwarne]

I don't know who is worse....Joe Buck or Chris Berman...


At least Strange and Azinger are doable, but please please can I have a button on my remote to just mute Joe Buck....

Good God, how can anyone be worse than Chris Berman? Joe Buck isn't my favorite but I've never understood why so many people dislike him so intently. But Chris Berman is the absolute bottom of the barrel. He's awful in the sport he's supposed to be good at, and even worse at other sports.

I've never had a problem with Buck, but he droned on endlessly about records in relation to par-endlessly.Every day.
The best was him describing how the chasing low am was one back and "needed a birdie to tie, and eagle to win, and a par to lose by one"

[mike_beene]

That ?Holly Sanders is the worst listener ever to be on TV.She screws up her very reduced role. Embarrassing

[Mark Kiely]

Seeing this thread has shifted into broad criticism of the telecast, did anyone else feel they were almost watching a highlights package instead of actual golf coverage? It seemed to me FOX took a page from NBC and just cut to any footage of anyone making putts. I know the greens were perfect and scores were low, but it seemed that far too often anyone outside the immediate lead was only shown if they made a birdie and/or a long putt. For instance, today Charley Hoffman began just a few strokes off the lead but I'm pretty sure they didn't show any shot until his holed birdie putt at No. 5. (A few times Joe Buck did the "Just a moment ago, this happened"-type intro, but many other times they didn't cop to it when I suspect we were actually seeing tape, not live golf.)


Also, several times the audio was WAY out of synch from the visuals. On one hole, Rickie hadn't started his backswing yet and I heard audio of his shot being struck, and then nothing when his ball was actually struck. It fixed itself quickly each time, thankfully.


Overall I enjoyed the tournament, but those two things stuck out to me about FOX's coverage.

[Brad Tufts]

Please bring back Johnny Miller!!! Azinger takes every opportunity possible to equate Ryder Cup experience with that of the Battle of the Bulge or a shoot out at the OK Corral. We know you captained a winning Ryder Cup squad and as American's appreciate it but try to get over yourself. Additionally he tries way to hard to make insightful comments when the action speaks for itself. I don't find much synergy between the crew and wonder about the decision making process to put them together. For me the broadcast is bailed out by the golf course so I have that going for me, which is nice.

How is this different than Johnny Miller talking about his Oakmont round every 10 minutes?

He even denigrated Thomas's 63 a bit because it wasn't the final round.  If I have to hear another word about 1-yd fades...

[Kalen Braley]

Maybe it was just me, but I had never heard the "pulling the chain" reference they did on Sunday.  Whats the story with that little spot, on US Open Sunday of all days?


P.S. JLAR, I admit, I may be biased against Joe Buck, his smarmy and pretentious shtick just really rubs the wrong way...  At least Chris Berman seems authenticate even if he has no business being involved in a golf telecast.

[Tom_Doak]

(A few times Joe Buck did the "Just a moment ago, this happened"-type intro, but many other times they didn't cop to it when I suspect we were actually seeing tape, not live golf.)

Also, several times the audio was WAY out of synch from the visuals. On one hole, Rickie hadn't started his backswing yet and I heard audio of his shot being struck, and then nothing when his ball was actually struck. It fixed itself quickly each time, thankfully.

To the second observation, there was a 5-second audio lag on the broadcast.  I can't remember who it was who swore "f***" after a tee shot early on Sunday, but I noticed it was bleeped out.


As for the first, I wish they wouldn't say anything about those shots being on tape.  When they do, you know they're only showing it because the guy makes a birdie or does something important, so there is no need to watch.  They only showed Xander Schauffle about 4 times yesterday and each time it was after he'd holed a birdie putt.  I never learned a thing about who he was, in 8-10 hours of viewing!

[Bill Brightly]

I thought we liked quirky.

+1.


I do not understand how what he said implied he meant it was unfair. Anyway, who said it had to be fair Bill?

We do like quirky. Dustin hit his ball too far/too much left and left himself in a really awkward spot, one where he had no chance to get it close and go for birdie. Strange was wrong to suggest it was unfair.

[cary lichtenstein]

I thought we liked quirky.

I love quirky and if the pros can't handle it, well, go home

[Jon Wiggett]

I thought we liked quirky.

+1.


I do not understand how what he said implied he meant it was unfair. Anyway, who said it had to be fair Bill?

We do like quirky. Dustin hit his ball too far/too much left and left himself in a really awkward spot, one where he had no chance to get it close and go for birdie. Strange was wrong to suggest it was unfair.

Bill,


once again I would ask you to point out where Curtis Strange said it was unfair. I cannot find it.