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Watching Golf this Week: BMW Championship, aka FedEx Cup Playoffs Round 3

September 6, 2012 by 1 Comment

If you need a break from football this weekend — which we sincerely doubt at this point — you can always check out golf’s version of the “playoffs,” which this week is another fairly meaningless tournament, the BMW Championship, the third round in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Being out of television range last weekend we missed the whole Rory/Tiger/LouisOoost showdown at the Deutsche Bank but really… we are saving our golf-interest for the Ryder Cup, and maybe for Sunday at the Tour Championship, if only because there will be $10 million on the line. To get there of course the pros need to negotiate Crooked Stick in Indiana this weekend, where we like Dustin Johnson to emerge victorious, possibly because he’ll be confident now that he knows he’s on the Ryder team.

Good news is you can tune in online Thursday and Friday, since Live@ is live during the playoffs. If you want to watch on the weekend, be warned that NBC will cover things early (12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET) followed by Golf Channel from 3:30 to 6, while the rest of us watch college football. Sunday there’s bonus early Golf Channel coverage from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., useful if you are experiencing a frustrating NFL blackout.

BMW CHAMPIONSHIP / FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE

Thursday, Sept. 6 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, Sept, 7 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 8 — NBC, 12 p.m. — 3:30 p.m.; Golf Channel, 3:30 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 9 — Golf Channel, 12 p.m. — 2 p.m. NBC, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
12 p.m. — 6 p.m. every day

ONLINE
Live@ video is back this week —
Live@ coverage — 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., every day

PGA SHOT TRACKER
If all you want is shots and distances (which can be addicting) get your fix via Shot Tracker, which will definitely be in action at the Barclays.

FACEBOOK PAGE
Like you perhaps some BMW Golfsport? Now is the time on sprockets when we dance!

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW

Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
Crooked Stick is a Pete Dye course. His “first great” design. Some of us say, that hasn’t happened yet. Ah well.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Walter Hagen. Sorry, that was in 1916 at the Western Open, this event’s predecessor. Last year’s winner was really Justin Rose.

FEDEX CUP PLAYOFF LEADERS
1. Rory McIlroy, 4,799 points
2. Nick Watney, 3,468
3. Tiger Woods, 3,417
4. Brandt Snedeker, 3,194
5. Louis Oosthuizen, 2,909

See the playoff full standings at the PGA site.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Rory McIlroy; 2. Luke Donald; 3. Tiger Woods; 4. Lee Westwood; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Channel, NBC Sports, PGA, Tiger Woods Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Watching Golf this Week: Deutsche Bank Championship, aka FedEx Cup Round Two

August 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Welcome to round two of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, three weekends of golf that don’t mean much until week four. In the spirit of Jason Dufner (who skipped the first week) we are taking most of this week off, so here is your bare bones info for the TV watching this weekend. Which doesn’t start until Friday, since it’s Labor Day weekend here in the U.S. and everyone needs sports to watch on Monday… right? Right.

Oh, and in case you forgot… Nick Watney won last week. Exciting, wasn’t it?

DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP / FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE

Friday, Aug. 31 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 1 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 2 — Golf Channel, 1 p.m. — 3 p.m. NBC, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 3 — Golf Channel, 11:30 a.m. — 1:30 p.m. NBC, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
12 p.m. — 6 p.m. every day

ONLINE
Live@ video is back this week —
Live@ coverage — 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., every day

PGA SHOT TRACKER
If all you want is shots and distances (which can be addicting) get your fix via Shot Tracker, which will definitely be in action at the Barclays.

FACEBOOK PAGE
The Deutsche Bank’s Facebook Page.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW

The Deutsche Bank twitter feed.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
Info on the TPC Boston.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Webb Simpson.

FEDEX CUP PLAYOFF LEADERS
1. Nick Watney, 3,266 points
2. Brandt Snedeker, 2,694
3. Tiger Woods, 2,417
4. Rory McIlroy, 2,299
5. Zach Johnson, 2,166

See the playoff full standings at the PGA site.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Rory McIlroy; 2. Luke Donald; 3. Tiger Woods; 4. Lee Westwood; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

Filed Under: Golf, NBC Sports, PGA Tagged With: , , ,

Watching Golf this Week: The Barclays, and the FedEx Cup… Playoffs!

August 23, 2012 by 5 Comments

I did a minor spit-take watching ESPN on the flip from the Giants-Dodgers Wednesday night — there was a quick clip of Rory McIlroy saying he was ready to kick Tiger’s ass or somesuch. Wow! Was it possible? Had Boy Rory’s stompdown at the PGA given him an unnatural boost of testosterone? Was this weekend’s Barclays tournament, with McIlroy and Woods paired together for at least Thursday and Friday, now must-see TV?

Well… no. Turns out Rory was just joking. And though it sounds like good theater for the moment, it’s appropos that the Barclays opening press conference was a bit of sham theater, since the actual tournament this week is also a bit of a joke. In case you’re not clued in, the Barclays is the start of the season-ending (kind of) FedEx Cup playoffs, where there are three weekend tournaments and then the Tour Championship. If you really have some time on your hands you can dig deep into the FedEx Cup 101 page provided by the Tour and try to delve into the mystery of regular-season points, playoff reset points, and why Jason Dufner can take this week off and still have a pretty good chance at raking in the $10 million that goes to the playoffs winner.

If you figure it out, let us know. We, like just about everyone else in the golf world, just watches these four weekends as kind of one extended long tournament. It doesn’t actually work out that way — you get more points the better you do each weekend — but it’s a massively flawed system that usually doesn’t get tense until the last Sunday of the Tour Championship. I mean, you get some big bucks for winning any of the next three weekends, but — winning any one of the next three is only part of the pinada, like winning a divisional playoff series or a conference championship.

The good news is, even if there really isn’t much at stake each particular weekend, the big bucks involved means that we get online video this week, with the PGA’s own Live@ kicking in each of the next four weeks. Bonus! Coverage starts right here at 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, so you can use your PC at work to see if Rory really does go out and kick Tiger’s ass or vice versa. Plus, there will be extended Golf Channel coverage on Saturday and Sunday mornings. And, the Barclays this year is being played at Bethpage Black, the cool public course out on Long Island with a lot of history and long, long, interesting holes. Don’t expect a birdie-fest here.

Though the Duf is taking the week off (he is second in the FedEx standings so he shouldn’t slip much — and the dude has been playing a lot lately, including last weekend at the Wyndham) everybody else will be there, because while the weekly wins may not mean that much, the $10 million that goes to the playoff champ is enough to turn the head of even a mega-rich golf star. So pick your favorite, they’re playing this weekend. I guess that alone makes the playoffs worth watching.

Here’s where to follow the action:

THE BARCLAYS / FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, Aug. 23 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 24 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 25 — Golf Channel, 1 p.m. — 2:30 p.m.; CBS, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 26 — Golf Channel, 12 p.m. — 1:30 p.m. CBS, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
12 p.m. — 6 p.m. every day

ONLINE
Live@ video is back this week — with coverage of Bethpage’s par-5 13th and par-3 17th. The PGA’s On The Tee program also kicks in this week, before the Live@ coverage.
Live@ coverage — 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., every day

PGA SHOT TRACKER
If all you want is shots and distances (which can be addicting) get your fix via Shot Tracker, which will definitely be in action at the Barclays.

FACEBOOK PAGE
The playoffs begin at the Barclay’s Facebook page.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW

The Barclays has a Twitter feed. Beware, it seems locally oriented.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
Bethpage State Park’s Black course has some strong history, including the great 2002 U.S. Open won by Tiger over the fan favorite Phil Mickelson. (I’d forgotten how charged the fans at that Open were, coming so soon after 9/11; also just read about the people yelling at Sergio to “just hit it!” … remember the waggle?) Though the 2009 Open was also played there (Lucas Glover, anyone?) the 2002 version is recalled in this slightly weird highlights video, with 9 minutes of Pearl Jam music that somehow… almost… kind of but not really… works:

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Dustin Johnson. Who needs to repeat…

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Tiger Woods, 2,269 points
2. Jason Dufner, 2,110
3. Rory McIlroy, 2,092
4. Zach Johnson, 2,019
5. Bubba Watson, 1,777

See the full standings for the FedEx Cup points list.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Rory McIlroy; 2. Luke Donald; 3. Tiger Woods; 4. Lee Westwood; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

Filed Under: CBS Sports, Golf, Golf Channel, PGA, Tiger Woods Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Watching Golf this Week: The Wyndham Championship

August 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

UPDATE: Because of the rain delay, coverage will resume Monday morning on the Golf Channel, starting around 9 a.m. Eastern time. Thanks to Geoff Shackelford for the link.

Admit it — you probably didn’t know this week’s tourney, the Wyndham Championship, is the last regular-season event for the PGA. Well, maybe you did. Of course it’s hardly the end of golf in 2012, since the FedEx Cup playoffs start the week after (at the Barclays) and then there is that whole Ryder Cup thing in September.

And don’t forget about the Fall season!

Anyway, at the Wyndham this week the big (maybe only) tension outside of just trying to win comes from the chase to make the top 125 list, so that you can participate in the big fiesta payoff known as the FedEx playoffs. As usual we turn to Geoff Shackelford for insider humor, with a post where he tries to make FedEx feel good about its $40 million investment by providing some links to stories explaining the pending playoffs. In case you didn’t know we like Geoff’s humor. And we’ll even link to one of the posts, since it will set you up nicely for a weekend of golf-watching.

We notice that Jason “the Duf” Dufner is the top-ranked player in Greensboro this weekend, and good on him. We’re still ticked that Duf didn’t come through for us at the PGA (had him two days on my fantasy team, and all he did was par par par) but how can you not like the Duf. Especially when he and Bubba and Rickie get their tweets on. I can’t tell you much about the Wyndham other than that Olympic gold medal hoopster Chris Paul apparently played in the pro-am. In case you didn’t know, Paul is good pals with last year’s winner and new U.S. Open champ Webb Simpson. I didn’t know that either.

No online golf this week (Live@ returns next week for the Barclays). You might also be interested in following the conclusion of the U.S. Amateur, which is on Golf Channel Thursday and Friday, and on NBC on the weekend.

Here’s where to follow the action:

WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, Aug. 16 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 17 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 18 — CBS, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 19 — CBS, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
12 p.m. — 6 p.m. every day

ONLINE
No Live@ video this week — the PGA’s live online video doesn’t return until the Barclays in late August, so you will need to get your online fix from…

PGA SHOT TRACKER
If all you want is shots and distances (which can be addicting) get your fix via Shot Tracker.

FACEBOOK PAGE
You can Escape to the Wyndham’s Facebook page.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW

The Wyndham has a Twitter feed.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
The Sedgefield Country Club has an awesome web site. Much to learn here. And hey, Steve Elkington had a hole-in-one here! So says the PGA’s stat page.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Webb Simpson.

U.S. AMATEUR

TV COVERAGE
Thursday, Aug. 16 — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 17 — Golf Channel, 8:30 p.m. — 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 18 — NBC, 4 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 19 — NBC, 4 p.m. — 6 p.m.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
Cherry Hills CC in Denver… heard of this place, Arnie?

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Tiger Woods, 2,269 points
2. Rory McIlroy, 2,092
3. Jason Dufner, 2,025
4. Zach Johnson, 2,019
5. Bubba Watson, 1,777

See the full standings for the FedEx Cup points list.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Rory McIlroy; 2. Luke Donald; 3. Tiger Woods; 4. Lee Westwood; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

Filed Under: CBS Sports, Golf, Golf Channel, PGA Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Professional Disc Golf? It's Growing

August 14, 2012 by

PDGA

It was pointed out to me that, duh, there is a difference between the Ultimate Disc League, which plays a version of football with discs, and the Professional Disc Golf Association, which plays a version of golf while also using discs.

While the PDGA season has been ongoing for sometime, there are still a number of major and minor tournaments on the board, both for pro and amateur players including the European Championships that start Wed. Aug 15 and run through the weekend. They are being held in Colchester, United Kingdom and currently there are 195 players registered for the event.

A quick look at the sport first. Disc golf was formalized in the 1970s, but its roots go back decades earlier and there has even been at least one attempt to create a commercialized league in the 19

60s. By the 1970s there was groups forming leagues, Wham-O, the inventor of the Frisbee was behind disc golf while others codifying rules and they eventually settled on a set of rules and from this the PDGA eventually emerged.

Disc golf has much the same goal as traditional golf, completing a course with the lowest score, in this case that means the fewest throws. A player covers the course and each new throw is from the landing spot of the previous one. The hole is usually an elevated basket called a Pole Hole.

I have to say that I was truly amazed at the breadth and scope of the leagues that are available for the average and pro player. There appears to be a high degree of organization that is often difficult with an endeavor that is so wide spread but that does appear to be present here.

One thing that really appeals to me is that the courses can have a great deal of quirky features. At the 10-hole course near my house there is a bus stop on the course along with a flagpole, a sculpture and a balcony shot from the 10th hole. The fact that they brew beer on the premises and it is in wine country is just two extra bonuses!

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Filed Under: Contests, Golf, Outdoor Activities, Professional Disc Golf Association Tagged With: ,

Early Sunday Start for PGA Championship on TNT, also Online; Players Turn to Twitter to Amuse Themselves

August 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

With the rain interrupting Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship things will get a much earlier start than planned Sunday, with golfers finishing up the third round starting at 7:45 a.m. Eastern Time. According to the PGA’s Twitter stream, the broadcast coverage on TNT will start at 8 a.m. Eastern, and the online stream (which will follow Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh as the “featured” group) will start airing at 7:40 a.m. Just like the British Open, early weekend golf! CBS should still come on at 2 p.m. Eastern, weather permitting. Let’s see if they can finish before dark.

I have to say I’ve been impressed by the PGA’s online efforts so far. Though it still doesn’t match the Masters when it comes to online screen choices (there is only one “marquee group” on at any time, plus coverage of the par 3 holes plus the ability to see the CBS broadcast when CBS is live), I do like the timeline below the viewing screen that lets you go back to watch highlights. And I will call the Social Caddy page a success — I was getting set to rip it this morning because it looked like the PGA was keeping out any negative commenters, but by Saturday afternoon I saw more than a few tweets about how pathetically bad the shuttle system was to get fans and media in and out of Kiawah.

Apparently there is only one road out to the island, leading to all kinds of traffic jams and a cavalcade of woe-is-us tweets from the golfing media, who have to endure the horrors of hours-long shuttle rides to and from the course. While it’s doubtful that anyone feels at all sorry for golf writers it has made for some entertaining reading. And it’s cool that the PGA isn’t trying to stop or police it on the Social Caddy site. Here’s USA Today writer Steve DiMeglio with a good line:

Of course one of the funniest PGA-related Twitter exchanges was taking place between Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Jason Dufner. If you’ve been following this trio you know that they love to just play around by ripping each other… relax folks it’s all a joke. Gotta love Bubba posting what looks like an old photo of Dufner:

Nothing like a little downtime and a good Internet connection.

Filed Under: CBS Sports, Golf, PGA, TNT, Turner Sports, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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