This weekend's Honda Classic brings a much-needed change in TV coverage for those who tune in to the PGA Tour each and every week. In recent weeks, the anger and frustration with CBS' coverage has boiled over and Twitter has been a dangerous place for Jim Nantz' group. The prevalence of commercials and non-golf interludes, such as sponsor and celebrity interviews, stupid fitness segments, and off-course fluff, sent the die-hards into orbit. There have been loud cries in the past, but nothing like this.
The good news for those angry masses on Twitter is that NBC is now here to take over things for a five-week stretch heading into the Masters. CBS has that broadcast at Augusta down; it's these regular weekly PGA Tour events that have become drudgery. NBC is generally held up in positive contrast to the recent CBS critiques, and their addition of David Feherty, taken from CBS and now full-time with Golf Channel/NBC, will only bolster their current popularity.
Feherty will join the NBC regulars -- Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller, Peter Jacobson, Roger Maltbie -- over the next month in what is one of NBC's biggest stretches of the year. They have the rights to bigger events, namely The Players, British Open, and Ryder Cup, but the Florida swing is a sustained stretch of above-average tournaments, even if the courses aren't nearly as nice as those we just left on the West Coast.
The other benefit of switching to NBC is now there's no 30-minute coverage gap during these two weekend rounds. Golf Channel always has the broadcast earlier in the day on Saturday and Sunday, and then kicks it to a network for the conclusion. When CBS has the final two rounds, there's 30 minutes when coverage goes dark, which I've been told repeatedly is to switch out graphics and talent (others will tell you this should take five minutes). Inevitably, this 30-minute blackout, which often runs significantly longer than that because college basketball goes over its scheduled time, misses critical leaderboard movement and the leaders playing some of the most important and scenic early holes. The final round is only 18 holes and this is coverage the people want -- it's hard to understand how it keeps happening in 2016, when we now have hundreds of different ways to watch everything.
There is no coverage gap with NBC because they fall under the same Comcast umbrella as Golf Channel. The transition is seamless and the coverage is nonstop from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The networks will have a simulcast stream of that broadcast running on their LiveExtra service. And if you want to watch golf well before that afternoon start time, PGA Tour Live will have a featured holes stream running all day, starting at 9 a.m. ET and focusing on the two scary par-3s that make up the "Bear Trap" at PGA National.
Here are all your media options for the final round:
Sunday's final-round coverage
Television:
1-3 p.m. -- Golf Channel
3-6 p.m. -- NBC
Online streams:
1-6 p.m. -- Golf Channel/NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. -- PGA Tour Live featured holes stream -- Par-5 3rd, "Bear Trap" Nos. 15-17 (No subscription required)
Radio:
12 to 6 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 92/208 and streamed here)
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SB Nation video archives: Urban golfing with a U.S. Open champ (2012)