After watching (almost) all of this tournament, I'd have to say it wasn't all that enjoyable to watch. Perhaps that's because I was pulling for Tiger/G-Mac/Westwood. Webb Simpson is a good player and perhaps a nice guy, but oh so dull. Same with Furyk.
But on a more objective level I didn't find the course all that fun. I understand it's supposed to be difficult. I don't want to see 20-under. Here were my issues as a casual golf fan:
-I want to see players hit their driver once in a while. Course required way too many irons/hybrids off the tee. Love the Tiger stinger but it gets a little old watching guys lay up to 220 on a Par-4, then hit their 2nd shot into a bunker.
-Way too many chips that were essentially hacking it out of weeds because the rough was so ridiculous. That kind of rough puts way too much emphasis on luck when chipping.
-Related to the above, the rough on the fairways was so long that, again, too much luck was involved. It all depended on how the ball happened to sit up (or not). As Johnny Miller never got bored of pointing out.
Overall I think the course made luck too big a factor in general. I saw players hit the same shot into a green on the same day - one would skip forward and roll off the back, another would stop well short of the hole. It didn't seem to reward good shot-making because even the players didn't know where the ball would go once it hit.
Also it just seemed like TOO much bunker play. Honestly I enjoy a well-done bunker shot but it seemed like every shot around the green was a blast from a bunker. Probably because so many of the approach shots were from that ridiculous rough.
Finally, ESPN/NBC's coverage was awful. Chris Berman doing golf is just a joke. Johnny Miller knows his stuff but is not enjoyable to listen to at all. Dour and grumpy. I wonder if anyone has a count of how many times he used the phrase "breaks towards Lake Merced". CBS does an immeasurably better job covering golf.
