Shoddy coverage

The LPGA's broadcasts are not helping the sport

ATLANTA -- One of the aims of the historic LPGA summit in early March was to increase television viewership, but with the sport's current announcing crews, that goal will never come to fruition. Even though ratings are -- miraculously -- up this season, the monotone and uninformed stylings of Mary Bryan, Bill Kratzert and Alice Ritzman are not going to attract any new fans.

THE SHAG BAG At 41, Inkster showed she is getting better with age. Sunday's victory stretched her streak of winning at least one tournament per year to six years in a row. ... Robbins got off to a slow start on Sunday. It's possible she had a sore thumb caused by overuse of the remote control. "I watched about six different shows at the same time while waiting to play," she said about occupying her time during Saturday's rain delay. Her TV menu included the Red Wings-Blues playoff game and the classic flick Thelma and Louise. ... LPGA player Caroline McMillan gave birth to her second child last week. Benjamin Pierce weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces....Catch Sally Dee with Bob Barker on The Price is Right Wednesday, May 8 at 11 a.m. ET. Not to give away the ending, but Dee shows she is a game show junkie. ... With four of the top 10 finishers on Sunday -- Grace Park, Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim and Hee-Won Han -- Korea may be proving that is producing the best women golfers. ... Whatever happened to 1997 Rookie of the Year Lisa Hackney? She's attempting a comeback under her married name, Hall, and finished second last week at the Albuquerque Futures Tour event.

Last Saturday, during the rain delayed Chick-fil-A championship, the LPGA communication staff scored a birdie by lining up players for the telecast, but the ESPN announcers gave it right back with a double-bogey of thoughtless and unplanned interviews.

The broadcast started with a brief highlights package. Since it was tape-delayed you would think it would be mistake free, but that was far from the case. Bryan, who probably knows the players best, is haunted by her weekly faux pas. On Saturday, Bryan said the previous LPGA event had been hosted by Amy Alcott. Unfortunately, that was wrong, and probably upset the people at the Long's Drug Challenge.

While Bryan is very likable, she tends to rest on her laurels. It's been almost 30 years since she attempted to play on tour, and even though she thinks she's in touch with the players, she continues to offer the same old anecdotes and comparisons.

And what really bothers me is that Bryan gives the weekly golf tip. How can anyone whose tour scoring average was closer to 80 than 70 be qualified to give swing advice? Ritzman, who earned more than $1 million dollars in her career, would be a much more viable candidate for this position.

Bryan's partner in the booth this week, Terry Gannon, showed he couldn't tell you the difference between Grace and Gloria Park. On Sunday, Gannon said that if Juli Inkster won she would become the third American champion of the season, an improvement over last year when it took 20 tournaments for the first American victory. Good try, Terry, but Rosie Jones won the 10th tournament of last year.

I give ESPN an ace for the production of its telecast (the close-up camera angles and the popular music were a nice touch), but there weren't enough highlights of players like Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak, both of whom were making a move on the leaders.

Kratzert started the barrage of interviews, and struggled the most. In the midst of constant "aahs" and "ands," he allowed tour official Angus MacKenzie to make an incorrect statement. MacKenzie said that last year a tournament was cut short because they had to come to Atlanta. For the record, the tour traveled to Austin after the rain-shortened Sacramento event.

Later, during the Nancy Lopez interview, Kratzert showed why he is a better course analyst than interviewer. The former PGA Tour player focused on old news -- Lopez's retirement announcement -- and failed to comment on current affairs. Kratzert also missed a perfect opportunity to ask the legend about the recent death of her father. They did, however, manage to ask Lopez about him on Sunday, to which she replied, "I would like to win one more time for my Dad." But it was too little too late.

Kratzert, who is very golf-knowledgeable, followed up the Lopez interview with an equally boring chat with Cristie Kerr. How many times do we have to hear that she lost 40 pounds and finally won a tournament?

Probably frustrated with Kratzert's performance, ESPN gave Ritzman a chance to interview tournament leader Kelly Robbins. While I should give Ritzman the benefit of the doubt because she is a relative newcomer to the broadcast team, she failed to inform viewers that the 64 Robbins shot on Friday matched her career low. And if Ritzman had done her research, she would have known that it was actually the seventh time Robbins accomplished the feat and three previous times she had gone on to win.

Overall, the questioning by all of the announcers was too straightforward and didn't have any zest or humor. And how about interviewing some of the players who had spent the last 12 hours at the golf course?

What's even scarier is that this isn't the worst crew. When CBS televises the McDonald's Championship in June, David Feherty and Gary McCord, both of whom are great on PGA events, will likely show that they care little about the LPGA.

The real solution would be to hire someone like me to do the broadcast. Unfortunately, I have a face for radio and a voice for the Internet, so I guess I will have to continue to suffer through these lackluster performances.

Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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