US Open Tee Times - Stellar Groups

[Deleted member 15344]

https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/us-open/news/us-open-tee-times-and-pairings-1st-round/

I see they have done the tee times for the US Open and as per usual they put stellar players in the same groups together - it’s purely for television viewers so they can just focus on 3/4 groups throughout the whole coverage

But isn’t it time for that to stop - especially in Majors ( US ones specially ) , maybe it’s time that the viewing public get to see a lot more of the field than just the normal 8/9 players week in week out

Should they stop manufacturing the draws to get the stellar players together and go for pure random draws which then forces the telly companies to widen the coverage they show

 

[Deleted member 1147]

For majors I think it should just be drawn out of a hat, and thus have random groups. As, one way or another, everyone there has earned the right to be their, they should get equal treatment.

 

[Dasit]

Happy with the way it is. TV companies happy with it too, especially PGA live who do 2 featured groups a day.

People don't want to tune in and watch guys they have never heard off.


Woods, Mcilroy, DJ, Spietch, that is what gets people tuning in on a Thursday and Friday

 

[Bazzatron]

Needs to be randomised. I want to see Rory and Tiger together on Sunday afternoon not Thursday morning.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

People don't want to tune in and watch guys they have never heard off.


Woods, Mcilroy, DJ, Spieth, that is what gets people tuning in on a Thursday and Friday

This is the reality. As hard core golf fans we may think differently but it is the big names that people generally tune in for. Other golfers will get coverage by scoring well. Over to them.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

People don't want to tune in and watch guys they have never heard of

With the exception of the US PGA which has reserved places for club pros, pretty much most golf fans will have heard of those playing in the Majors. Only a small number of unknowns get in and it would be pretty special for them to be randomly paired up with the superstars.

Random draws please :thup:

 

[TheDiablo]

Not sure why you've singled out the US majors, The Open is equally culpable for this. Opening tee shot hit by a retiring legend, major winners paired together and never at the start or back of the field etc

I personally dont have a problem with it. Just because Rory, Woods and Spieth play in different groups, it wouldnt mean we would see any less of them.

If Rory was playing with Michael Herbert and Michael Block, we certainly wouldnt be seeing any more of their shots other than ones so good that we would see them anyway. We'd just see a bit more of them standing on a tee box or a green than we would usually. All it would mean is more investment required from TV companies to make sure theyre covering every group with a big player in which wouldnt happen and the quality of the broadcast would reduce

 

[TheDiablo]

With the exception of the US PGA which has reserved places for club pros, pretty much most golf fans will have heard of those playing in the Majors. Only a small number of unknowns get in and it would be pretty special for them to be randomly paired up with the superstars.

Random draws please :thup:

I follow US Golf quite closely, certainly more than the average golfer and there's about 50 in the field I've never heard of this year, far more than a 'small number of unknowns'.

Just asked a guy at work, very good club golfer but only watches majors - he had heard of less than half (71)

 

[Deleted member 21258]

If Rory was playing with Michael Herbert and Michael Block, we certainly wouldnt be seeing any more of their shots other than ones so good that we would see them anyway. We'd just see a bit more of them standing on a tee box or a green than we would usually. All it would mean is more investment required from TV companies to make sure theyre covering every group with a big player in which wouldnt happen and the quality of the broadcast would reduce

I was thinking random but the point you make here is spot on, not that I had thought of it before reading your reply. So why bother really with random from a tv point of view.

The difference it would make on the course, would be for the better, saw it at wentworth, where certain groups have almost no one following and some have masses and you can barely see the players. Did also see where someone is making a move, the mobile tv crews go charging to, to film.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I follow US Golf quite closely, certainly more than the average golfer and there's about 50 in the field I've never heard of this year, far more than a 'small number of unknowns'.

Just asked a guy at work, very good club golfer but only watches majors - he had heard of less than half (71)

I don't follow golf all that closely these days but I've certainly heard of most of the field. I would much rather see Billy Joe Redneck III paired up with McIlroy than with John Hootinanhollerin Jnr.

 

[IanM]

Most European Tour events do some form of this... PGA recently had block of "names" together in the morning and another in the afternoon, made planning the day easier.

I just hope we see some of the leaders if you know who is out of the running!

 

[TreeSeeker]

People don't want to tune in and watch guys they have never heard off.

At the start of the event at the very least, i would like far more attention on the other competitors, people who are near the cut for example where their performance in that round is way more important. I wonder what it would do for viewing figures if they put the spotlight on others a little more.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Happy with the way it is. TV companies happy with it too, especially PGA live who do 2 featured groups a day.

People don't want to tune in and watch guys they have never heard off.


Woods, Mcilroy, DJ, Spietch, that is what gets people tuning in on a Thursday and Friday

Surely that's part of the problem - a lot of people won't have heard of these people because they never get shown on TV. But if they were to be randomly put with bigger names they might get some coverage.

There are people there who may be in their one and only US Open, and might hope to get some TV coverage of themselves, perhaps to get a recording of for posterity, but will never get a chance because the USGA decided to put them with a couple of other unknowns, rather tha ngiving them a game with a superstar.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Most European Tour events do some form of this... PGA recently had block of "names" together in the morning and another in the afternoon, made planning the day easier.

I just hope we see some of the leaders if you know who is out of the running!

Unlikely, they would rather show him spitting or scratching his backside than show the leader playing decent golf !!

 

[IanM]

Unlikely, they would rather show him spitting or scratching his backside than show the leader playing decent golf !!

During the coverage of "The Players" they filled 10 mins with a montage of "his" greatest shots at Sawgrass.... while current stuff was in progress! Maybe Nike pay for this?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

No different to any other sport, the players/teams/countries etc that attract the biggest audiences get more airtime.
Bigger the sell, bigger the advertising revenue.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Surely that's part of the problem - a lot of people won't have heard of these people because they never get shown on TV. But if they were to be randomly put with bigger names they might get some coverage.

There are people there who may be in their one and only US Open, and might hope to get some TV coverage of themselves, perhaps to get a recording of for posterity, but will never get a chance because the USGA decided to put them with a couple of other unknowns, rather tha ngiving them a game with a superstar.

We see the “stellar” names week in week out on the PGA tour - each event coverage is mainly dominated by 4 groups , 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon

The majors especially the Opens are special and they shouldn’t just focus on those same stellar players , it gets boring , whilst at times The Open does put some big name together it never seems as bad and even then the coverage used to be varied where you saw more than just the stellar players

They are the Majors they sell themselves, they don’t have “major sponsors” to satisfy , they don’t need to just focus on the same 6/8 players people will still watch it because it’s a major .

 

[Deleted member 1418]

Worse draw possible for Tiger - going to be 30 - 40 yards behind DJ and Thomas off the tee with his driver......provided he finds the fairway with it of course.....😉😀😀

He therefore definitely needs to reign his ego in and just take whatever gets the ball in play rather than trying to smash driver just to try and keep with the other 2 - not sure he's capable of that.

As for the draw itself, yes random are better but still a lot of players in this one I've never heard of and have no interest in!!

 

[TheDiablo]

At the start of the event at the very least, i would like far more attention on the other competitors, people who are near the cut for example where their performance in that round is way more important. I wonder what it would do for viewing figures if they put the spotlight on others a little more.

They would go down, it's as simple as that.

I don't quite get your logic either as I personally don't want to see journeymen pros grinding to make the cut whilst already being 10 shots behind the leaders and out of contention already.

 

[TheDiablo]

Surely that's part of the problem - a lot of people won't have heard of these people because they never get shown on TV. But if they were to be randomly put with bigger names they might get some coverage.

There are people there who may be in their one and only US Open, and might hope to get some TV coverage of themselves, perhaps to get a recording of for posterity, but will never get a chance because the USGA decided to put them with a couple of other unknowns, rather tha ngiving them a game with a superstar.

Play better golf then - it's as simple as that. The TV cameras, coverage and interviews will follow.

Look at Andrew Landry a few years back - a complete unknown at the time (and journeyman pro until his breakthrough this year). The way he got his exposure was by being in contention.