By Erik Jacobsen
Staff Writer
Sure, Greg Norman's poor showing in the final round of the British Open was disappointing. However, the 53-year-old put on a pretty good show throughout the weekend and would have needed to be at the very top of his game to beat Padraig Harrington, who was outstanding down the stretch en route to his second straight Open title.
How about that shot at No. 17 by Harrington? I loved how the broadcasters were questioning the move as the ball was in the air. Then as it rolled onto the green and broke toward the pin, they were left speechless as Paddy was left with a short eagle putt.
Speaking of the broadcast crew, I found ABC's coverage to be lacking. I know the ABC/ESPN crew isn't doing much golf these days after dropping its share of the PGA Tour schedule. But the broadcast seemed pretty choppy for a major championship, especially considering what CBS and NBC do for the other three major tournaments.
Among my biggest complaints were the high number of commercial breaks. It seemed like after every other shot we were going for a word from the sponsors. I also didn't like how the telecast had so many key shots on tape delay and how a number of shots - like Norman's late chip out of fairway bunker - weren't even shown. I know this might have to do with sharing a feed with European counterparts, but the effect wasn't very pleasing to the viewer. Another beef I had was that key shots down the stretch by players like Anthony Kim, Ben Curtis and Henrik Stenson were never shown. In an event without Tiger Woods in the field, there is no excuse for ignoring some of the players who were in the hunt late in the final round.
As for the broadcast team, there weren't too many blunders. Mike Tirico was solid as usual, but I'm still not seeing him as one of the sport's top voices. Paul Azinger was informative as usual while adding in a few of his customary zingers. Tom Watson fared pretty well for being a newcomer in the booth, but you can tell he still needs some work. Also, I'm not normally a fan of Tom Rinaldi, but I did enjoy his postround interviews, which were well conducted and made both the viewer and player feel comfortable.
One more note on the broadcast. It was annoying that ABC never fixed its graphic showing Greg Norman's record in majors when holding a 54-hole lead. It said he led the 2006 Masters, when indeed it should have been the 1996 Masters. Somebody needs to do some copy editing over there.
All in all, it was a pretty entertaining major considering Tiger wasn't in the field. That gives us some hope looking forward to next month's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
*On a local golf note, Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove continues to attract big names to its facility. Chris Brown, a Naperville native and running back for the Houston Texans, played at the course Sunday. Meanwhile, former Cubs catcher Todd Hundley was in the field for an event at the track Friday.
