So the latest gimmick from the Sheriff Of Nottingham and his trusty band of henchmen up in Ponte Vedre Beach is a real doozie.
Seems the powers that be need something splashy for that expensive streaming deal of theirs so they’ve come up with a brilliant idea — actual on-course interviews with actual players who may have just made actual birdies and/or heaven-forbid, hit a tee shot out-of-bounds.
And that’s where it gets testy friends.
That’s the latest batch of wet spaghetti that the tour has throw up against the wall, hoping some of it will actually stick.
The good old on-course interview.
This should go over really well. Let’s interrupt these guys mid-round to see how they’re feeling.
Well, you might get some guys who need a little face-time to buy in — as in players you rarely see or have never heard of.
But don’t go near Tiger. Verbotten!
Same for a lot of other guys.
In case you’re wondering how they might pull this off, the tour will no doubt pass a secret ballot to all the players in the field asking which ones would be willing to grant a mid-round interview.
No doubt they’ll have trouble rounding guys up. Might work in the first two rounds but come late Saturdays and certainly late Sundays, good luck.
Truth be known, they did manage to land a couple of “on course” interviews during the first round at the Tournament of Champions Thursday.
Aaron Oberholser managed to corner the personable Aussie Marc Leishman on the 16th hole for about 30 second then Leishman, who was seven-under at the time, promptly hit his tee on the 17th hole into the toolies and made double-bogey. Interview curse?
Jim “Bones” Mackay caught up to defending champion Dustin Johnson on the 12th hole. The 12th, a par four, is where D.J. darn near made an ace last year. D.J., a man of few words, gave Bones a few words and that was that.
Truth be known, those two sequences didn’t add much to the broadcast.
The PGA Tour might want to reconsider this one.
