2014 PGA Championship Discussion Thread

[Crim]

Absolutely amazing Sunday. You know it's good when the wife watches all 18.

Congrats to Rory, STUD, and that trophy top catch......like a boss.

[Valleygolfer]

Absolutely amazing Sunday. You know it's good when the wife watches all 18.

Congrats to Rory, STUD, and that trophy top catch......like a boss.

That is funny. My girl watched the whole thing too. Didn't even have to pretend to be entertained. I didn't finish watching until after midnight and was too tired to work out this morning...

[Kieran123]

Rory is a beast. What a great Sunday with awesome golf. I hope Fowler gets one in the future. His major appearances have been unreal this year

[nevets88]

Good collection of gifs summarizing the PGA. Missed Eric Compton doing the kick thing.

http://adamsarson.com/2014/08/11/2014-pga-championship-gifs/

[DwightC]

Nevets88--Great sequences.  Thanks for posting!

[RandallT]

Not that it amounted to much, but I was a bit conflicted by David Feherty looking for Jason Day's ball when he yanked it into the weeds on the second hole. On the one hand, if F saw it where it went, there's no reason for him not to help look, unless he's a reporter, and one of the primary rules of reporting is to report the event, not be a part of it.

I thought about that a little, and it seems to me that as long as the TV crews can help with their technology in an even-handed fashion, I think it's great. If they use it to help their favorites, but then selectively choose to not get involved for certain players, then their decisions might have an effect on the outcome of the competition- not cool. There shouldn't be any rules regarding their assistance, but we fans could raise hell if we see them not being even-handed. I don't see any issues with what they've done so far, and I think it's great to use the tools at our disposal to find every ball possible.

[rehmwa]

was only able to watch about the last 9 holes of the last group and those playing during that time.

Fantastic entertainment - and it's "watching golf".  whodatunkit?  great finish - Rory had a really good approach game for sure.  Just let Ricky putt for Rory and we have -20 or so.....  (crazy isn't it?  Rory's putting was great too, but Ricky was saving some serious holes for a stretch there - and that hook from the other fairway, just plain fun golf)

[Crim]

Good collection of gifs summarizing the PGA. Missed Eric Compton doing the kick thing.

http://adamsarson.com/2014/08/11/2014-pga-championship-gifs/

This is great!!

[mdl]

Just caught the back nine of the final groups on Sunday.  But man, what a finish!  Was a bit bummed Fowler faded.  Even 3-putted 18 to finish T3 instead of T2.  Am looking forward to him turning his new swing and majors excellence into a win.

But it was fun to see Rory win one with a whole group of the best in the world chasing him until the end, birdieing late to put it away, as opposed to just running away with it and only having to cruise to the finish.  Woulda been fun though if Phil had jarred that eagle chip and forced a playoff!  He hit a few classic Phil ridiculously close green side shots down the stretch to keep the pressure on!

[mvmac]

Highest ratings since 2009...who needs Tiger?

http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/24656119/pga-championship-ratings-biggest-since-2009

Quote:

The PGA Championship is the worst of the four majors -- can we all agree on that? It's a glorified (barely) Players Championship and lacks the history and depth of the Masters and both Opens.

In 2014, though, it stood alone as the best of the bunch and it wasn't even close. Television viewers agreed and they responded by watching at a higher clip than any other PGA Championship since 2009.

According to CBS public relations the tournament earned an average household rating of 6.0 which is up 36 percent from the 4.4 rating in 2013 when Jason Dufner took down Jim Furyk.

The 2014 Masters -- always the highest-rated golf day od the season -- got a 7.8 rating on Sunday.

The 2009 PGA Championship was the last time the rating was this high. That was the one where YE Yang took down Tiger Woods -- it got a 7.5.

[Crim]

Nice!

Great weekend for golf.

[jbishop15]

Highest ratings since 2009...who needs Tiger? ;-) [URL=http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/24656119/pga-championship-ratings-biggest-since-2009]http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/24656119/pga-championship-ratings-biggest-since-2009[/URL]

I think it shows that people believe in Rory's star power. Really good sign for golf. Now, of course, if Tiger could come back and Phil get back to form and Fowler makes the leap.... Oh boy. That would be incredible.

[RJH999]

I think it shows that people believe in Rory's star power. Really good sign for golf. Now, of course, if Tiger could come back and Phil get back to form and Fowler makes the leap.... Oh boy. That would be incredible.

..and Mikko Illonen can get into form..*drools all over oneself* --------- Or it could just be a sign that people like Phil...I dunno. Good ratings though, good for golf. I think the fact that most of the first round was insane helped. I mean, at one point there was 10 within one of the lead!

[FarawayFairways]

Highest ratings since 2009...who needs Tiger?

Good - I'm pleased, no really, I am

As you know (or might do, as I shouldn't assume that everyone reads my tomes) I've been absolutely flabbergasted by America's obsession with a single golfer. This is a complete anathema to us. To my viewing it hit a nadir on Friday, when to be honest, I turned the feed off as the TV coverage had become unwatchable

I'm a massive believer that competition and character are much more important to the brand and attraction of any sport than a single person smashing a course up, and especially so because one day, that single person won't be able to do so any longer. What have you got then?

Furthermore, I also believe there's a massive place for team-matchplay that hasn't been fully utilised yet, and golf actually has a potential USP in the American sporting landscape if it can move fast enough to exploit it (suspect its already lost to football though). I'll also reiterate what I've said before. If America wins the Ryder Cup, you'll start to over take viewing figures from previous defeats that featured Tiger. I'd be very interested to know what the 2008 figure was at Valhalla compared to the 2004 figure. People like to associate with success. It's that simple

[Mr. Desmond]

Highest ratings since 2009...who needs Tiger?

See that start power.

Way to go, Ricky...

[iacas]

To be clear, Mike didn't say this, but I wanted to comment on the bit of the article he quoted.

The PGA Championship is the worst of the four majors -- can we all agree on that? It's a glorified (barely) Players Championship and lacks the history and depth of the Masters and both Opens.

a) The PGA Championship is older than The Masters. It certainly has "the history." One could argue it has more history since it was originally a match play event, which makes it unique.

b) The PGA Championship field is the deepest, by far, of the four majors.

The PGA is slagged fairly often, but in some years it's had a better event than the Masters, the British Open, and the U.S. Open (rarely is it better than all three others, I'm just saying it's not always and even rarely the fourth best major championship of the year).

P.S. 7.8 for the Masters (sans Tiger, worst Masters since 1995 or something wasn't it?) and the PGA got a 6.0? So… still not very good. Bummer.

[RJH999]

To be clear, Mike didn't say this, but I wanted to comment on the bit of the article he quoted. a) The PGA Championship is older than The Masters. It certainly has "the history." One could argue it has more history since it was originally a match play event, which makes it unique. b) The PGA Championship field is the deepest, by far, of the four majors. The PGA is slagged fairly often, but in some years it's had a better event than the Masters, the British Open, and the U.S. Open (rarely is it better than all three others, I'm just saying it's not always and even rarely the fourth best major championship of the year). P.S. 7.8 for the Masters (sans Tiger, worst Masters since 1995 or something wasn't it?) and the PGA got a 6.0? So… still not very good. Bummer.

It just doesn't have an identity. The Masters is at historic Augusta and is a legendary tournament. US Open is the toughest test and our open. British Open is Europes Open & true links golf. PGA has the best field, not much after that. I liked the whole "glorys last shot" "this is major" sounds dumb.

[FarawayFairways]

What would be really interesting to know (and perhaps in the next 5 years we'll see it) would be what the Masters would generate with this years PGA finish? Hypothetical of course, but few individuals are bigger than the entire sport, and despite being assured that Tiger is, I somehow doubt it

Would it be possible that there is a correlation between viewing figures and lack of adverts?