The Masters 2018 - see Mod note #1

rednik

Sky announced this morning they have retained exclusive broadcasting rights for all four days of the 2018 Masters.

Mod Notes:

Want to moan about the commentary or lack of coverage - go HERE

Betting talk is not permitted - that goes HERE

Kingswood Rover

rednik wrote: »

Sky announced this morning they have retained exclusive broadcasting rights for all four days of the 2018 Masters.

They usually have on the beeb thank fcuk as i will never have sky in my gaffagain. Thats another story, John Rahm is going to go close this year.

bazzamac

The BBC coverage last year was shockingly bad.

Claregaafan18

The decision by the PGA of America to award the 2017 US PGA Championship to BBC was one of the most appalling decisions in relation to sports broadcasting. Incredible decision considering the World Athletics Championships was in London that same week and clearly golf was not the BBC's top priority back then.

The BBC is so old-fashioned and out-dated and have analysts that may have served a purpose 25 to 30 years ago with their "those were the days" narrative but is clearly not suitable today for a more younger audience.

Thank God that Sky are showing the Masters this year though. I really like listening to the likes of Butch Harmon and Paul McGinley who give informative insight and put a lot of effort into their detail which is what I like. I also really enjoyed Padraig Harrington's analysts for the channel's coverage of the Masters last year. However please no more Monty or Darren Clarke on Sky. Two of the most unpopular guys on tour. Always found both men a bit smug and cocksure of themselves.

bazzamac

And no Peter Alliss thank god

Benicetomonty

BBC will have Sat and Sunday live as well as hightlights on Thursday and Friday. I find comparisons between the coverage offered by the Beeb and Sky perplexing tbh. Sky has an entire channel dedicated to golf that is funded by subscriptions. There is no way it can be challenged with regards to the hours of golf it can broadcast.

I agree that the decision to give bbc the pga last summer was a disaster but that was more to do with the American pga's obstinance/ignorance, or both. Cant blame bbc for benefitting. What coverage they could offer was fine, there just wasnt enough of it. It came off the American feed and the important shots were shown.

Re commentators, leaving aside the fact that you watch golf rather than listen to it, I find the beeb team perfectly competant as a whole. Im not mad about Aliss but Andrew Cotter is excellent. I cant stand Harmon, remain unimpressed by McGinely and think Monty is a joke. On the other hand, I like Livingstone and Doherty, whereas Murray is a consumate pro. Harrington will be brilliant should he ever choose to commentate full time.

coylemj

Benicetomonty wrote: »

Harrington will be brilliant should he ever choose to commentate full time.

I'll buy an extra large can of WD40 if Paddie H. ever gets a commentating job.

Seve OB

coylemj wrote: »

I'll buy an extra large can of WD40 if Paddie H. ever gets a commentating job.

he said in recent interview he enjoyed it, but wouldnt want to do it as a job. prefers to be in the game, more hands on like. but never say never i guess

ShriekingSheet

Claregaafan18 wrote: »

The decision by the PGA of America to award the 2017 US PGA Championship to BBC was one of the most appalling decisions in relation to sports broadcasting. Incredible decision considering the World Athletics Championships was in London that same week and clearly golf was not the BBC's top priority back then.

Benicetomonty wrote: »

I agree that the decision to give bbc the pga last summer was a disaster but that was more to do with the American pga's obstinance/ignorance, or both. Cant blame bbc for benefitting. What coverage they could offer was fine, there just wasnt enough of it. It came off the American feed and the important shots were shown.

An appalling decision? Ignorance?

The motivation behind it was to ensure the tournament would not be behind a pay-wall, and therefore be available to everyone, not just those with expensive subscriptions.

The PGA can make more money by selling the rights to Sky & co, but they chose (even if it turns out to be only for one year) to go with terrestrial and/or free online broadcasters. Say what you like about quality of coverage/commentary, but the real effect of a deal with Sky is to limit the amount of people who can/will see the tournament.

A terrestrial deal might mean not having a 'Shot Centre', but the audience will be significantly bigger.

I have Sky Sports, and agree it was a pain - much worse coverage than Sky, but at least see the logical thinking behind the move by the PGA. Surely we want sports organisations to stand up to big broadcasters more often, and place more emphasis on growing the game, rather than making money. See the Masters being hugely restrictive on the numbers of ads per hour, and ensuring a terrestrial broadcasters gets the weekend coverage as well - it's good stuff. Not appalling or ignorant.

Benicetomonty

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

An appalling decision? Ignorance?

The motivation behind it was to ensure the tournament would not be behind a pay-wall, and therefore be available to everyone, not just those with expensive subscriptions.

The PGA can make more money by selling the rights to Sky & co, but they chose (even if it turns out to be only for one year) to go with terrestrial and/or free online broadcasters. Say what you like about quality of coverage/commentary, but the real effect of a deal with Sky is to limit the amount of people who can/will see the tournament.

A terrestrial deal might mean not having a 'Shot Centre', but the audience will be significantly bigger.

I have Sky Sports, and agree it was a pain - much worse coverage than Sky, but at least see the logical thinking behind the move by the PGA. Surely we want sports organisations to stand up to big broadcasters more often, and place more emphasis on growing the game, rather than making money. See the Masters being hugely restrictive on the numbers of ads per hour, and ensuring a terrestrial broadcasters gets the weekend coverage as well - it's good stuff. Not appalling or ignorant.

Id be very sceptical that that was the PGA's motivation tbh, regardless of what they said publicly. They enjoyed a very profitable relationship with Sky for many years and the decision to terminate that is indicative of a falling out imo. Golf is not a game thats ever been overly concerned about its accessibility to the masses, especially in America.

If what youre saying is accurate, however, it was an exercise in astounding ignorance to give the rights to bbc when they were already contracted to show a different sporting event. The hours shown were pathetic and as a consequence, the tournament did not reach near as many people as it could have by giving it to a different terrestrial station.

ShriekingSheet

Benicetomonty wrote: »

Id be very sceptical that that was the PGA's motivation tbh, regardless of what they said publicly. They enjoyed a very profitable relationship with Sky for many years and the decision to terminate that is indicative of a falling out imo. Golf is not a game thats ever been overly concerned about its accessibility to the masses, especially in America.

If what youre saying is accurate, however, it was an exercise in astounding ignorance to give the rights to bbc when they were already contracted to show a different sporting event. The hours shown were pathetic and as a consequence, the tournament did not reach near as many people as it could have by giving it to a different terrestrial station.

Yeah, fair enough schepticism. Even if it is a falling out, and not a noble move, I still think it’s good to see them push back on the mega broadcasters and not be bullied. Closer to home, the GAA are at risk of similar commercial temptation/aggression.

Still, I think your point about golf not being overly concerned about accessibility is an outdated one. Yes, a few years ago and for a long time before it was an exclusive sport, but when participation started to fall and the demographics began to skew very, very old, the PGA & co have rapidly become keen to “grow the game”.

After all, the PGA represent tens of thousands of pros who’s bread and butter is participation - ie: lessons and members buying mars bars. More eyeballs is better for them.

Kingswood Rover

bazzamac wrote: »

The BBC coverage last year was shockingly bad.

Did not think it was too bad, being able to see it not on Sky will always curry favor with me

ForeRight

Kingswood Rover wrote: »

Did not think it was too bad, being able to see it not on Sky will always curry favor with me

Guess who's hungry

Deise Vu

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

An appalling decision? Ignorance?

The motivation behind it was to ensure the tournament would not be behind a pay-wall, and therefore be available to everyone, not just those with expensive subscriptions.

The PGA can make more money by selling the rights to Sky & co, but they chose (even if it turns out to be only for one year) to go with terrestrial and/or free online broadcasters. Say what you like about quality of coverage/commentary, but the real effect of a deal with Sky is to limit the amount of people who can/will see the tournament.

A terrestrial deal might mean not having a 'Shot Centre', but the audience will be significantly bigger.

I have Sky Sports, and agree it was a pain - much worse coverage than Sky, but at least see the logical thinking behind the move by the PGA. Surely we want sports organisations to stand up to big broadcasters more often, and place more emphasis on growing the game, rather than making money. See the Masters being hugely restrictive on the numbers of ads per hour, and ensuring a terrestrial broadcasters gets the weekend coverage as well - it's good stuff. Not appalling or ignorant.

Agreed but isn't the masters the tournament we can't see until about 8PM on the first two days? I think the leader was finished one year before coverage started (Spieth?). As far as I can recall we missed McIlroy's first or second round last year too. Bizarre way to grow the sport.

bazzamac

Kingswood Rover wrote:

Did not think it was too bad, being able to see it not on Sky will always curry favor with me

I would much prefer to watch it on BBC than Sky but the coverage last year was appalling.

Snotty

Deise Vu wrote: »

Agreed but isn't the masters the tournament we can't see until about 8PM on the first two days? I think the leader was finished one year before coverage started (Spieth?). As far as I can recall we missed McIlroy's first or second round last year too. Bizarre way to grow the sport.

I think that is all down to Augusta National and their idea of inclusionism is to allow poor people to play the course one day a year, their idea of a poor person being a vice Presidents of non-fortune 500 companies.

ShriekingSheet

Deise Vu wrote: »

Agreed but isn't the masters the tournament we can't see until about 8PM on the first two days? I think the leader was finished one year before coverage started (Spieth?). As far as I can recall we missed McIlroy's first or second round last year too. Bizarre way to grow the sport.

Haha, are you saying they’re trying to shrink the sport so? That they darent show the morning coverage lest too many plebs tune in?

Ah yeah, I wasnt saying they are noble, guardians of the game, I was saying their tough dealing with big tv networks is a good thing.

Specifically on the hours of coverage, its obvious that they think less is more from a showbiz perspective. Every other tournament has wall to wall coverage that, let’s face it, nobody watches all of. They show specific chunks that everyone is absolutely glued to from start to finish. There’s a bit of mystique there, a bit of stuck-up arseyness about it too...

But you can’t deny that what they’re doing is working unbelievably well. Whether they’re actively trying to grow the game or not, the Masters is probably the #1 reason a whole load of people did and do get into golf. No?

Dbu

bazzamac wrote: »

I would much prefer to watch it on BBC than Sky but the coverage last year was appalling.

'And here is VJ Singh with his approach to the 2nd....er sorry it is in fact Adam Scott':eek:
BBC appalling alright

HighLine

Some swing this little guy has!!

https://twitter.com/GolfChannel/status/980419813070667776

WHIP IT!

What time will the Live Coverage be starting from Thursday-Sunday, folks?

Will we get any early Featured Groups coverage as we have been for the regular tournaments so far this season?

pajoguy

Eir sport have 4 days live coverage also I think

callaway92

pajoguy wrote: »

Eir sport have 4 days live coverage also I think

American Feed, so commentators will be Nick Faldo et al. No thank you.

HighLine

Alternative angle of one of the greatest Masters moments.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/980784677047939072

coylemj

WHIP IT! wrote: »

What time will the Live Coverage be starting from Thursday-Sunday, folks?

You get it on the Masters website or app, check the schedule for each day where you'l find the info on 'Featured Groups' and the like. The times for live feed are listed under 'Broadcast', here are the start times in BST (UK/Irish time)...

Thu. 8 p.m.
Fri. 8 p.m.
Sat. 8 p.m.
Sun 7 p.m.

BBC2 'coverage' starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday so they will start with 30 minutes of replays, interviews and analysis before they link up with the live feed from CBS.

FixdePitchmark

So open this year .

I fancy Rory , but you could pick 20 + players .

We know Rahm will win a major very soon.

coylemj

Paul Casey, 6th/5th/6th in the past three years.

FixdePitchmark

coylemj wrote: »

Paul Casey, 6th/5th/6th in the past three years.

yes and he never has balls to finish it off

normally has a 7 / 8 to kill himself off

Mantis Toboggan

Love the masters but the lack of coverage infuriates me every year.

rickis tache

coylemj wrote: »

Paul Casey, 6th/5th/6th in the past three years.

one of my picks for the week. Justin thomas is my other.

KingdomYid

Amazingly got lucky in the lottery this year with my first attempt and have two tickets for Sunday. I am traveling stateside on Wednesday, to say I am excited is the understatement of all time

rickis tache

KingdomYid wrote: »

Amazingly got lucky in the lottery this year with my first attempt and have two tickets for Sunday. I am traveling stateside on Wednesday, to say I am excited is the understatement of all time

yup it's official......I hate you.

Mantis Toboggan

https://twitter.com/ConorSketches/status/980872408138698753?s=19

DJIMI TRARORE

Wide open competition again this year, a lot if big names on fire and anyone could win. Was hot on Hideki,but I don't think he has recovered from injury so I might stick with Bubba or Speith,horses for courses and all that,don't think an outsider will win

Mantis Toboggan

Obviously love to see Rory do it but I'd fancy either Speith or Rose to win it with Tommy Fleetwood my outsider.

Rocko

KingdomYid wrote: »

Amazingly got lucky in the lottery this year with my first attempt and have two tickets for Sunday. I am traveling stateside on Wednesday, to say I am excited is the understatement of all time

Let us know how you get on......

liamoreilly

KingdomYid wrote: »

Amazingly got lucky in the lottery this year with my first attempt and have two tickets for Sunday. I am traveling stateside on Wednesday, to say I am excited is the understatement of all time

...Think he should be banned for this filth!!!... Enjoy, look forward to the trip report...

dball

KingdomYid wrote: »

Amazingly got lucky in the lottery this year with my first attempt and have two tickets for Sunday. I am traveling stateside on Wednesday, to say I am excited is the understatement of all time

send us pics too

coylemj

Pairings and tee times for the first two rounds will be posted on Tuesday.

http://www.masters.com/en_US/players/pairings/index.html

diomed

My guess is it will be an outsider that wins, a player making his Masters debut.

finglashoop

As usual ive put a snall ew bet on freddie couples first round leader and jason dufner each way overall.

Hottest putter wins really.

As for the winner a lot of players seem to be in good form so hopefully they all perform and its a close run thing. Ive gone off watching golf a bit cause its turned into drive and wedge most of the time.

Masters and us open are tough and i like to see players have to work for par/birdie.

Blud

finglashoop wrote: »

As usual ive put a snall ew bet on freddie couples first round leader and jason dufner each way overall.

Hottest putter wins really.

As for the winner a lot of players seem to be in good form so hopefully they all perform and its a close run thing. Ive gone off watching golf a bit cause its turned into drive and wedge most of the time.

Masters and us open are tough and i like to see players have to work for par/birdie.

It's a myth that hottest putter wins. Stats show that hitting greens in regulation is more important.

Miss a green in Augusta and you're in serious trouble - the greens are more receptive to approach shots than to trying to get up and down.

CalamariFritti

I am getting quite excited now. What a week. Short week to begin with. Today and tomorrow we're being kept afloat with Champions League quarter finals (how bad!!!) and from Thursday the event of the year. Hopefully with Tiger coming back with a bang. I should really take the week off.

Roger_007

I have a feeling that the TV coverage this year will be 90% Tiger Woods, 10% everyone else. I'm half hoping that Tiger doesn't make the cut so that we can have Tiger-free coverage for the weekend.

DellyBelly

There are cases to be made for a plethora of players. I'm hoping a European wins it again. The fact that 3 of the last 4 winners on the current pga tour were UK golfers so you'd have to think a European winner is well on the cards. Maybe Rose to make it 4 in 5

backspin.

Roger_007 wrote: »

I have a feeling that the TV coverage this year will be 90% Tiger Woods, 10% everyone else. I'm half hoping that Tiger doesn't make the cut so that we can have Tiger-free coverage for the weekend.

If tiger isn't doing that well they will still follow his every shot. That's gonna be frustrating to watch.

coylemj

backspin. wrote: »

If tiger isn't doing that well they will still follow his every shot. That's gonna be frustrating to watch.

I seriously doubt that will be the case. They can't reduce coverage of the leaders just to give us shots of Tiger missing a putt or going into a bunker. And when you factor in the 'wow' shots that get inserted into the coverage from players further down the leaderboard, if Tiger isn't in the top ten at a given point, they will simply ignore him bar the odd mention of his current standing.

backspin.

coylemj wrote: »

, if Tiger isn't in the top ten at a given point, they will simply ignore him bar the odd mention of his current standing.

He would need to be way out of contention before they'd ignore him.

WHIP IT!

Roger_007 wrote: »

I have a feeling that the TV coverage this year will be 90% Tiger Woods, 10% everyone else. I'm half hoping that Tiger doesn't make the cut so that we can have Tiger-free coverage for the weekend.

While I hope he plays well and contends - the above would certainly be a silver lining should he play poorly and miss the cut...

coylemj wrote: »

I seriously doubt that will be the case. They can't reduce coverage of the leaders just to give us shots of Tiger missing a putt or going into a bunker. And when you factor in the 'wow' shots that get inserted into the coverage from players further down the leaderboard, if Tiger isn't in the top ten at a given point, they will simply ignore him bar the odd mention of his current standing.

Can only assume you've never watched any golf tournament that Tiger Wood played in..... ever!

finglashoop

Blud wrote: »

It's a myth that hottest putter wins. Stats show that hitting greens in regulation is more important.

Miss a green in Augusta and you're in serious trouble - the greens are more receptive to approach shots than to trying to get up and down.

The players being in such good form makes me think it will come down to putting, they spend most of the year driving and pitching to greens, could be wrong and GIR may be the biggest decider here

callaway92

Anyone got a full list of players easily copyable for Sweepstakes for work?

rickis tache

for sale for 4 days . wife and 2 kids. T & c's apply.
rickis tache is governed by the central rules committee of dream da hell on lad.ie