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Masters Adds Android Apps, More Online Coverage

March 28, 2012 by 5 Comments

Screen shot of an Android app for the Masters golf tournament.

In addition to its comprehensive, almost commercial-free TV coverage, the Masters golf tournament announced Wednesday that it will have apps for Android-based smartphones and tablets for online viewing of this year’s tournament. Though the golf that counts won’t start until next Thursday, April 5, Masters coverage this year begins next Monday with a new live program called “On the Range” which will air live on Masters.com.

In past years the Masters has had only apps for Apple iPhones and iPads, and charged $1.99 for a premium iPad app; this year, all apps are free and can be downloaded from the links on this page.

Live television coverage of the event this year starts on Wednesday April 4 with some coverage of the famed par 3 contest, aired from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN. ESPN will also broadcast live golf coverage from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 5 and Friday, April 6. On the weekend TV coverage shifts to CBS, from 3:30 p.m. to 7 pm on Saturday, April 7 and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 8 (all times Eastern).

Real golf nuts will probably watch both on TV and online, as the Masters once again will outdo all other sports events with seven different live feeds to choose from, including cameras focused on the famous “Amen Corner” stretch of holes 11, 12 and 13. There will also be live 3D streaming video from the par 3 contest as well as during competition, along with more scores, stats, highlights and Masters features than you will probably have time to consume. Stay tuned here to MSR for more ways to follow the Masters as we lead up to the big week.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, CBS Sports, ESPN, Golf, Live sports via mobile, PGA, The Masters, Tiger Woods Tagged With: , , ,

Timeout Tuesday: The All-Tiger Edition

March 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Time for some time-wasting videos since it is Tuesday. And who better to have as a subject than the most interesting man in golf right now, Tiger Woods? Here’s a few snippets including a good recap interview following Sunday’s win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, and an oldie but goodie showing Woods’ probably most historic shot at the Masters. Which, in case you didn’t know, starts in a little more than a week.

Here’s ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi, for once not having to wince while he interviews Tiger:

Want to play like Tiger? You can of course, via his new video game. And this video teaches you how to play better in the wind. In the virtual wind, that is:

And here are a couple Tiger Augusta classics… one destructive (though he still made par on the hole) and one majestic. Verne Lundquist with the classic call… “In your life have you seen anything like that?” What will happen next weekend? You’ll be watching, of course.

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

Watching Golf This Week: Arnie’s in the House

March 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Welcome to a new feature here at MSR, something we are calling “Watching Golf this week,” at least until we come up with a better title. Anyway, what we’re doing is compiling all the ways you can watch the PGA Tour this weekend — online, on TV, on Twitter, and anywhere else we can find. Please give us a shout in the comments if you know of other outlets or have favorite columnists or reporters who follow pro golf. It’s all about sharing here so don’t be shy.

With just two weeks to go before the season’s first major, all eyes this weekend will be on prodigal son Tiger Woods, and whether or not he is healthy or capable of contending at the Masters. This weekend’s tour stop is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Fla., and Tiger has started off well on Thursday, getting to 2-under early in his round. Here’s where to follow the action:

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, March 22 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, March 23 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 24 — NBC, 2:30 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 25 — NBC, 2:30 p.m. — 6 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
12 p.m. — 6 p.m., Thursday-Sunday

ONLINE
LIVE @ PGATOUR (click this link) “Watch exclusive live online coverage of all four rounds from the par—3 14th and 17th holes at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla.”
Thursday, March 22 — 1 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, March 23 — 1 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 24 — 12 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 25 — 12 p.m. — 6 p.m.

PGA SHOT TRACKER
This thing is addictive. Live updates of every shot, with length, where it landed, how far the player has to go to the hole. Like eating potato chips.

GOLF CHANNEL TIGER TRACKER (live blogging of Eldrick’s rounds)
Click here for the Tiger Tracker coverage.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend

LOCAL FLAVOR
If Orlando is golf central, then the Orlando Sentinel is its oracle. Lots of tour coverage and more.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
Check out the PGA’s Inside the Course feature for a look at Bay Hill.

WHERE ARE THE LEADERS?
Last week’s tour winner and now new No. 1 overall Luke Donald is NOT at Bay Hill this weekend, and neither is overall No. 2 Rory McIlroy. And those absences don’t sit well with the king.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
If you remember Martin Laird, you are a golf trivia expert. Here’s a list of past champions and tournament trivia.

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Rory McIlroy, 1,015 points
2. Kyle Stanley, 954
3. Johnson Wagner, 920
4. Mark Wilson, 877
5. Phil Mickelson, 835
See the full standings for the FedEx Cup points list.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Luke Donald; 2. Rory McIlroy; 3. Lee Westwood; 4. Martin Kaymer; 5. Steve Stricker.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

UPDATE: Here’s Ryan Moore showing how to not have to use your putter. It’s in da hole! Watch:

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

Timeout Tuesday: Here’s Your Time-wasting Sports Videos

March 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Who doesn’t want a dunk fiesta to start your Tuesday off right? What better way to start than with a Derrick Rose tomahawk, courtesy of the turnstile defense of the Knicks Monday night:

How about golf? Poor Tiger Woods got the O.J. Simpson treatment Sunday with the TV cameras following his car as he left the course after withdrawing because of an Achilles injury. But did you catch him on Saturday, making par “the hard way” after rinsing his tee shot on a par 3? Shades of #16 at Augusta… here is El Tigre, and four other “shots of the week.”

This next one might be unofficial but it was a great play — Colorado’s Carlon Brown caught Arizona sleeping during Saturday’s Pac-12 tournament championship game and slammed one down hard:

And… since I went to CU and can’t remember Buffs hoops ever being worth a damn to watch, a Carlon Brown encore, this one to help polish off Cal in the semis. Who knew Buffs could jam?

And this isn’t a video of her win last weekend (couldn’t find one yet) but we’d like to spend a minute or so honoring American skier Lindsey Vonn, who may just go down in history as the greatest ever for her sport. What I like about this GS at Kranjska Gora is how she almost buys the farm near the end but recovers with such grace that you have to look closely to even see the slip. It’s probably what cost her a podium here but the form is just damn fine skiing. And somehow the foreign-language commentary just makes it seem more exotic.

Filed Under: ESPN, NBA, NCAA Hoops, PGA, Skiing Tagged With: , , ,

PGA Also Embraces the Instant Web Highlight: Watch Paul Casey’s Hole in One

March 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In the old days you used to have to wait until SportsCenter came on and wait longer through the program, not daring to go to the bathroom if there was an obscure highlight that you wanted to see. Now, every league and sport is getting the online religion. If something cool happens like a monster dunk, or a fantastic finish, put it on YouTube or on your own site — and let people share it. That’s how we are able to let you see Paul Casey’s hole in one today — minutes after it happened:

What this means in the long run, we’re not sure. Maybe the end of networks as we know them? I doubt that. But right now it’s good news for sports fans, to be able to get their highlights as soon as possible. Here’s hoping it continues and spreads.

Filed Under: Golf, PGA, YouTube Tagged With: , , ,

The PGA’s Strange Baby Steps Toward Social Media

February 26, 2012 by 1 Comment

Since golf in general has a reputation for being stuck up, it’s perhaps no surprise that when it comes to social media the PGA is still taking baby steps when compared to other sports. I mean — in an era where the NBA has fans selecting the dunk contest winners via text message and Twitter, the PGA has a place where fans can leave messages online… for the PGA to somehow bring them to golfers.

Don’t understand what I am talking about? Look at this page, which I found by following the PGA on Twitter… and see if you think it’s about three years behind the interactivity of the times. As far as I can tell, the PGA thinks that fans may want to “congratulate” Hunter Mahan by leaving a message on some random web page — or as the PGA site says, “Leave a note below and we’ll deliver it to him.”

Umm… OK? As far as I can tell this is about as non-social as social media gets. I mean — why not have the winner do a quick Twitter chat, where he can respond to fans in real time? And they can get recognition for themselves via their Twitter handles, which after all is part of the social media game — to be recognized?

This sort of idea — you put a message here, somewhere safe, and we’ll carry it past the ropes to our winner — pretty much reflects golf’s baby steps toward real fan interaction. The online video for the World Golf match play was a perfect example of that tenor — it was a straight network-broadcast type feed, no place for fan tweets or any outside commentary. You get the feeling sometimes that golf wants to keep its game bottled up as much as it can. But I don’t think that method is going to win in the long run. Golf will need to either open up, or it will become less appealing to a fan base that is rapidly growing accustomed to having closer, more intimate access to its heroes.

Filed Under: PGA, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,
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