What’s up with the lack of early coverage for the Masters? For some reason, it’s impossible to find any sort of TV coverage of the early tee times and of the front nine. No matter which day of the tournament it is, stations will only start broadcasting around 3 p.m. EST. Quite curious when you consider this is pretty much the biggest golf tournament of the year and certainly the most prestigious.
So, asking around the newsroom, I’ve gotten two answers, neither of which make much sense.
1. The front nine at Augusta isn’t nearly as nice as the back nine.
2. This is the way that it has always been.
The first answer is pretty bogus. I’m sure that every course that the PGA plays on its tour, let alone the grandest event of them all, is of high enough standard to be broadcast. And if it wasn’t, then why are photographers allowed to take pictures on the front nine? Wouldn’t that show all the pot holes and poor designs? This couldn’t possibly be the real reason.
Second, in advanced times like these, with the amazing advances in TV and Internet technology, you cannot say that you won’t advance yourself because “this is the way we’ve always done it.†If newspaper stuck to this plan, they’d be going extinct at even greater rate. How can anything these days refuse to advance themselves?
So PGA, get your stuff together. There are many, MANY people out there who want to watch an entire day of Masters coverage. Let’s not make people wait until 3 p.m. when they already know what’s going on. There’s other sport that would think of this plan. Would the NFL ever skip the first half of a game then show highlights and the second half? Of course not.
This is just sheer stupidity wrapped in the veil of “Tradition.â€
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