Few golf tournaments really matter on TV. People can tune in for the final round on Sunday and find out all they need to know, who won and by how many strokes.The sport's four majors mean more and merit more long-term attention, though, and the U.S. Open sits atop that group because of the challenge it inevitably provides for golfers. Those who take the course cannot win the tournament the first day, but they sure can lose it. Especially if they struggle in the infamous rough that the U.S. Golf Association always provides as part of the course setup.
For NBC Sports -- which plans a record 16 hours of high-definition coverage (including two hours each Thursday and Friday) from historic and picturesque the Pebble Beach Golf Links the next four days -- the tournament represents an obvious highlight to its year-long sports schedule.
"It's the greatest championship we do," said Dan Hicks, who will host the first two rounds and work from the 18th-hole tower throughout the Open with analyst Johnny Miller. "When you combine that and Pebble Beach, it makes it incredibly special."
For viewers, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach means golf that looks good on TV, with all those ocean views, and golf that could look bad on TV, with many of the pros potentially struggling, and certainly not posting the types of scores that they do when the PGA Tour visits Pebble Beach for its annual season-opening event, when greens are slower and the rough is shorter.
To make the telecast work this year, NBC has 274 staffer members, 51 cameras and 10 production trucks on site in California. More than 2.4 million feet of fiber cable has been run throughout the course to feed pictures back to the trucks and then out to the world.
NBC also has "cue ball" cameras on the seventh and 18th holes, and it added an 18th-hole crane camera, which will provide a straight-on look at tee shots on the final hole. The crane is parked next to the golf course in the backyard of a family that pulled out their shrubbery to make room for the device.
"The tee shots at 18 will be struck right at the camera, and then the second shots will be what we call a 'speed shot.' So the ball will actually come flying by our camera and land in the vicinity of the green," said executive producer Tommy Roy. "It's an angle that no one's ever seen before here. No one's been able to put a camera in a position like that. It's going to be a dramatic shot."
Those producing the broadcasts hope technology has little to do with the tournament's overall drama, though. Color and curiosity should drive interest and ratings the first few days, but they want big names in the final pairings Sunday and hopefully some close competition. While Tiger Woods' runaway victory at Pebble Beach in 2000 was historic and impressive, tight competition might draw more viewers than a dominant effort.
Finally, the West Coast location for the tournament, and corresponding timing of the tournament, which pushes action into prime time on the East Coast, should certainly bolster ratings.