Sky tv US open commentator Ewen Murray

IrishHomer

I miss the regular Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray who usually commentates at all the golf majors.

Anyone know why he is not on this week?

Minister B

IrishHomer wrote: »

I miss the regular Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murry who usually commentates at all the golf majors.

I find Montgomerie painful to listen to. Of course no love lost between Ewen Murray and Monty.

IrishHomer

I love watching the majors but find this one a bit of a downer listening to these lads Monty and Howard Clark.

johntommy

IrishHomer wrote: »

I miss the regular Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray who usually commentates at all the golf majors.

Anyone know why he is not on this week?

He is on sky this week

PhilipMarlowe

Rob Lee and Monty will be off soon and Murray and Butch will probably be back on...

WHIP IT!

Minister B wrote: »

I find Montgomerie painful to listen to. Of course no love lost between Ewen Murray and Monty.

Really, why's that?

tbukela

Monty is a pain and butch is some cheerleader.

Deeper Blue

Ewen has saved Sky's coverage from being completely unwatchable this week. Always has intelligent analysis and really knows how to set the scene. Howard Clarke and Butch Harmon are decent also.

Montgomerie is a poor commentator/pundit. They should promote someone like Tony Johnstone to the main commentary team and stop bringing in the likes of Montgomerie, David Howell etc as they add nothing to the coverage

Tim Barter's interviews have been completely pointless as usual. Does anyone really care what was going through so-and-so's mind as they were playing their second shot to the 17th?

Bruce Critchley has been just as biased and anti-american as ever

The less said about Rob Lee the better

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Really, why's that?

Ewen was very critical of Monty's on-course behaviour a few years back.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/europeantour/2305234/Colin-Montgomerie-apologises-to-Skys-Ewen-Murray-ahead-of-Loch-Lomond-Scottish-Open.html

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12176_3797673,00.html#Letter

PhilipMarlowe

I'm a big fan of Johnstone but I think he's more afternoon man than night-time man. I just can't 'picture' him doing the meatier events but I would like him to be on more often.

Ally Dick

I cannot stand Ewen Murray. He is like a cyborg who is programmed to spout mindless cliches the whole time. He comes across as completely passionless to me. No loss whatsoever

Deeper Blue

Licksy wrote: »

I'm a big fan of Johnstone but I think he's more afternoon man than night-time man. I just can't 'picture' him doing the meatier events but I would like him to be on more often.

I can't either unfortunately. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot more of Monty and Rob Lee at the majors from now on.

MisterAnarchy

Ally Dick wrote: »

I cannot stand Ewen Murray. He is like a cyborg who is programmed to spout mindless cliches the whole time. He comes across as completely passionless to me. No loss whatsoever

I used to like him but he has become exceptionally bitter and jingoistic over the last 5 years.
There is a serious lack of technical analysis on Skys coverage .

Speak Now

Ally Dick wrote: »

I cannot stand Ewen Murray. He is like a cyborg who is programmed to spout mindless cliches the whole time. He comes across as completely passionless to me. No loss whatsoever

+1 Unfortunatley we haven't lost him though.

Ally Dick

The BBC commentary team are miles better. My personal favourite is Wayne Grady. Insightful tips about golf, amusing anecdotes and a good knowledge of what's going on. Ewen Murray just comes out with blasé bullsh!t like "it's all happening here at Celtic Manor"

Adiaga 2

Ally Dick wrote: »

I cannot stand Ewen Murray. He is like a cyborg who is programmed to spout mindless cliches the whole time. He comes across as completely passionless to me. No loss whatsoever

Never been a fan of Murray but listening to Rob Lee and Monty, I can see why he would be missed.

who_ru

i must be the only one here who likes listening to monty, better than clarke any day.

Uncle Mclovin

Murray is the best to be fair to him.


It's hilarious the way Butch Harmon looks straight down the camera. I'm sure the producers tell him not to do it but he just can't resist.

dnjoyce

Surprised at the love for Murray here tbh. I hate the way every single shot is the "greatest/most difficult/most stunning/insert own superlative here" shot you'll ever see - in particular any shot hit by TW. Thought Monty did ok actually - they tee'd him up a lot over the first couple of days almost forcing him to talk about the 2nd place in '97. Rob Lee wasn't as bad as I thought he was going to be in his first real anchor role in a major but Howard Clarke was as annoying as ever.

PhilipMarlowe

Ah here, Rob Lee not bad? Are you mad?
*A Garcia chip runs along green, hits flag and goes in - "Slam Dunk" says Lee.
wtf? It might have been a slam dunk if he hit a 64 degree wedge 30ft in the air and it pitched in the hole
I think he's a muppet.

dnjoyce

Licksy wrote: »

Ah here, Rob Lee not bad? Are you mad?
*A Garcia chip runs along green, hits flag and goes in - "Slam Dunk" says Lee.
wtf? It might have been a slam dunk if he hit a 64 degree wedge 30ft in the air and it pitched in the hole
I think he's a muppet.

there's a difference between "not bad" and "NOT AS BAD AS I THOUGHT"

staker

Sky are running with that "honey,honey" crap on their sports news. Pure crap stuff!

Bazzmundo

I was in my Mother's when Rory tee'd off so was watching an American stream online, legg'd it home after about 5 holes to watch the completely characterless banal coverage Sky had. Pure crap. The main guy is terrible. As was said above just superlative after superlative, no insight or real commentary. Normally I would accuse US sports commentary of this but the difference between the CBS (I think) and Sky was amazing.

death1234567

Monty is the worst commentator of all time. How many times did he mention being ryder cup captain or how he played in the Us Open in 1997? Tosser. Rob Lee is also awful. I have learned to accept Butch now and I don''t mind Murray or Howard Clarke.

JerryHandbag

I'm in the minority, but I dont mind Monty at all tbh. What annoyed me was Sky doing those musical pieces before some ad breaks....FFS just dragging it out, get to the ad break already! :rolleyes:

saintastic

death1234567 wrote: »

Monty is the worst commentator of all time. How many times did he mention being ryder cup captain or how he played in the Us Open in 1997?

To be fair, that's why they wanted him there and him talking about the Ryder Cup and his US Open brings a different angle to the coverage than someone like maybe David Howell who brings zero.

I thought Monty was really annoying at times and then at other times, he was not bad. It was his first proper tv spot so hopefully he can improve.

Bring on the BBC and The Open though! I love Ken Brown and "Ken on the course".

aster99

I actually enjoyed Monty, wouldn't mind him on there again

Ally Dick

Count the number of times Ewen Murray says "It's all happening here at...". He is to golf commentary what Richard Keys was to football

Mountjoy Mugger

Monty and his "fits of giggles" did my nut in.

dvemail

Thought Monty was useless, everything is either about him or its fantastic for european
golf. It really got quite tiring after a while.
Thought Rob Lee was good, not afraid to have a laugh on air and is much better than the
rest of the Sky crew imo.

BBC still miles ahead.

BoardsMember

I watched it on Sky Sports, the first time I have watched so much golf on Sky Sports when watching it properly, i.e. not in a pub. I began thinking that their commentary would be good, I dont know why. But having watched a lot of it, I can honestly say that there was not one piece of input that I found in any way interesting, or a revelation, or informative in a way that you might hope after 12+ hours watching. I dont expect pearls of wisdom all night long, but I would have expected some interesting analysis of some of the swings in slo-mo (which I think the do in studio usually), or interesting in-depth info on how they made the changes to the course, or the input of the new head of PGA, or how the course was not nearly as difficult as they would have wanted etc. IT was just a load of white noise, bland yadda yadda.

ssbob

Uncle Mclovin wrote: »

It's hilarious the way Butch Harmon looks straight down the camera. I'm sure the producers tell him not to do it but he just can't resist.

I love that, I burst out laughing when I read this, I think it is a real american thing to do though, you see it all the time on the American football.

My Analysis:

1. Rob Lee: Seems a bit childish at times, can't believe he was ever a professional golfer
2. Ewen Murray: His columns on SkySports.com are very good and opinionated but feel he is not given the same reign on air so comes across as very repetitive, nothing to add.
3. Howard Clark: Will never be Ken on the course, he should stop trying.
4. Butch Harmon: In fairness its great to have someone who knows so much about the technical aspect of the game and has coached some of the greatest players of all time, has a real passion for the game
5. Monty: I think he realises his golfing career is over, if I was him I would get practicing because he is never going to be a likeable character on the telly especially when he licks his lips and pauses every 5 seconds mid sentence:eek:
6. Di Stewart(Dougherty): If she wasn't hot she wouldn't be there- FACT!
7. Bruce Critchley: More concerened about the Flora/Fauna of the world than the golf.
8. The others that were left at home: I like Denis Pugh, Mark Roe is a tosser, Tony Johnstone, extremely likeable, Hawksworth-mediocre and Faldo's old coach is coaching nobody now so he adds nothing!!!

Would much rather watch Sam Torrance and co. on BBC anyday!!

Speak Now

Think you're being a bit hard on Di there (no jokes please )
She was very good when she fronted the night time golf.
Wasn't impressed with her on the course flirting for the open though.
Still she's alot better than Tim Barter of course, how did he get a gig

ssbob

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Think you're being a bit hard on Di there (no jokes please )
She was very good when she fronted the night time golf.
Wasn't impressed with her on the course flirting for the open though.
Still she's alot better than Tim Barter of course, how did he get a gig

Yes maybe a bit tough, I agree she's good in the chair but has no purpose around the course, why didn't they send Rob Lee out and leave her there?

I even forgot about Tim Barter.......................ha

Maybe we should all apply for gigs there?:D

Ally Dick

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Think you're being a bit hard on Di there (no jokes please )

I'd love to get lost in the bushes with Di sometime

Aidric

I was watching it on streams and most of the coverage was from the American networks. All was fine except for the stream of dung flowing out of Johnny Miller's mouth.

As for Sky I've grown to intensely dislike Howard Clarke, almost as much as I hate Bruce Critchley. Both pompous, overbearing and hard to listen to.

Monty is a good communicator and very articulate. He may just need time to find his voice on tv as it were.

Was Radar (:rolleyes:) Riley doing any work at this or had they him off covering some pitch and putt competition in Devon or somewhere? The only thing he has a radar for is the ice cream van.

PhilipMarlowe

I don't mind Howard Clarke... I find that you get the info you need like how far, what club etc. and an intelligent 'report' of what to expect on the green.
That said, bring on The Open and the BBC, dawn to dusk coverage

getoffthepot

Monty was a disaster, shouldn't be allowed on the telly.
Saw him years ago coming off the 18th after shooting 64 in the 1st round of the european open, all the kids wanted autographs and he ignored every one of them, got into a buggy and drove off. He's a Blx even when he's had a good day on the course.

Aidric

getoffthepot wrote: »

Monty was a disaster, shouldn't be allowed on the telly.
Saw him years ago coming off the 18th after shooting 64 in the 1st round of the european open, all the kids wanted autographs and he ignored every one of them, got into a buggy and drove off. He's a Blx even when he's had a good day on the course.

Sounds like you're holding a grudge tbh. Have you talked to anyone?

MisterAnarchy

BoardsMember wrote: »

But having watched a lot of it, I can honestly say that there was not one piece of input that I found in any way interesting, or a revelation, or informative in a way that you might hope after 12+ hours watching. I dont expect pearls of wisdom all night long, but I would have expected some interesting analysis of some of the swings in slo-mo (which I think they do in studio usually), or interesting in-depth info on how they made the changes to the course, or the input of the new head of PGA, or how the course was not nearly as difficult as they would have wanted etc. IT was just a load of white noise, bland yadda yadda.

Very true.
They also seem to repeat the same guff and cliches every 30 minutes .
Its as if they are catering for an audience that just watches for a few minutes then turns away.
If I had 1 euro for every time the words "Northern Ireland" "British" "European" wer trotted out over the four days I'd be a rich man.
The coverage is far too jingoistic,its almost us against them.

mr.mickels

Ally Dick wrote: »

The BBC commentary team are miles better. My personal favourite is Wayne Grady. Insightful tips about golf, amusing anecdotes and a good knowledge of what's going on. Ewen Murray just comes out with blasé bullsh!t like "it's all happening here at Celtic Manor"

I think the BBC's sports coverage in general has gone way downhill over the last 10 years or so, their football coverage is infantile and the last time I watched golf on BBC they had Linekar presenting, and he was just woeful, worse than anyone SKY had. I recall they had Sam Torrance also, the most boring voice ever, and Allis is just too old. I agree Wayne Grady was decent, they could bin the rest. SKY have their critics but to be fair to them, for most events if SKY didn't cover them you wouldn't see them at all, or might see an hour highlights for the first 3 days on BBC.
On the whole I would say Murray is alot better than average.

harpsman

strong stuff from murray on monty-dont mind murray-what was with the tony fenton bits though?
like mark roe.
somebody should give monty a geography lesson:northern ireland not in britain,in uk but not britain.

Pighead

Thumbs up to Monty from me. He was way better than I thought he'd be. Much more likeable and genial than his on course demeanour.

bucks777

Monty is painful to listen to.....keeps harping on about the Ryder cup victory and "his team". Ryder Cup will never be on Par with winning a major when it comes to any golfers career, well except Monty that is. Looks like Sky have high regard for him so he'll be on for all the majors now

BackScrub

I think the Sky commentary has certainly gone downhill over the last few years. Murray is just going through the motions at this stage and Critchley is waiting to pick up a pension. They really need a change overall. I love Butch I have to say, he has a personality at least.

Howard on the course isn't that bad. At least he doesn't say "This drive is going straight down the hey diddle diddle" anymore. Used to hate that. I'll pass on making a comment about Mark Roe and Robert Lee, I fear I'd get a long ban.

I'd like to see them make more use of Jean Van de Velde. He's impressed me on the few occasions he's done analysis. He seems genuine and takes the job of analyst seriously, plus he's a very likable man.

As for the BBC next month, I'll take a pass on listening to them. If I hear Sam Torrance say "He played it beautifully" one more time I'll shoot myself. I'm not much of a fan of Grady either. And don't even get me started on Andrew Cotter. Jesus.

For me it will be Open Golf Radio from the Open Championship site. Ian Payne (ex Sky) used to be the main presenter and was brilliant on it. I'm not sure if he'll be doing it this year. John Hawkesworth was good too. Basically, it turns out to be 10 hours of laughs, slagging and a bit of golf commentary thrown in.

It's worth a listen if you haven't done so before.

Ally Dick

Thankfully Lineker is gone from golf coverage on BBC. Alliss wasn't a fan. Torrance was mysteriously missing from last year's Open too if memory serves me right. He is a bit smarmy. However I loved the row he had at Brookline over Tom Lehman's green trampling antics

Adiaga 2

BackScrub wrote: »

For me it will be Open Golf Radio from the Open Championship site. Ian Payne (ex Sky) used to be the main presenter and was brilliant on it. I'm not sure if he'll be doing it this year. John Hawkesworth was good too. Basically, it turns out to be 10 hours of laughs, slagging and a bit of golf commentary thrown in.

It's worth a listen if you haven't done so before.

Have listened to this the last couple of years at work on the thursday and friday. Rob Lee does it too though and last year seemed to have free reign to showcase his comedic talents. Kind of like Faldo in that sense and no other.

I came across an old European Tour year book from around 1990 a while back. On the player profile page for Rob Lee, his hobbies and interests were Japanese culture and Discos. Discos!!! :cool:

Aidric

BackScrub wrote: »

Ian Payne (ex Sky).

Where did he go after sky? He was genuinely the only presenter on sky sports news that was bearable.

I've listened to his Open coverage for radio previoulsy also and always thought he was excellent.

BackScrub

Aidric wrote: »

Where did he go after sky? He was genuinely the only presenter on sky sports news that was bearable.

I've listened to his Open coverage for radio previoulsy also and always thought he was excellent.

5Live I think. I'll have a listen out for him during The Open.

As for bearable Sky Sports presenters surely Jim White with his lovely, understated way, his unending efforts to downplay even the smallest story and his inability to sound excited about anything tops that list.

Warning: Sarcasm may be at work in the final paragraph.

harpsman

Ally Dick wrote: »

Thankfully Lineker is gone from golf coverage on BBC. Alliss wasn't a fan. Torrance was mysteriously missing from last year's Open too if memory serves me right. He is a bit smarmy. However I loved the row he had at Brookline over Tom Lehman's green trampling antics

Na-made a tool of himself after brookline-"tom lehman calls himself a man o god" in bad scottish accent.
shoulda kept his mouth shut