Watching Golf this Week: The Open Championship, aka The British Open

July 19, 2012 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Are you ready for the third major of the year? It all kicks off Thursday morning at one of the stranger-named courses, Royal Lytham & St. Annes (not St. Anne’s), which its own website describes as “It is not a conventionally beautiful golf course, surrounded as it is by suburban housing and flanked by a railway line, but it has a charm all of its own.” Never you mind. This is the British Open, aka The Open Championship, and it’s all about history. With Champions at the course named Seve. Tom Lehman, Gary Player, and most recently, David Duval in 2001.

And best of all, golf when you wake up in the morning here in the U.S.! If you want to watch the Open Championship this weekend you best have a cable subscription with ESPN (and really, who doesn’t in the sports world). If you want to watch online or on your mobile device, you need a cable sub with the WatchESPN qualifying carriers: Verizon FiOS, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Comcast. This tourney is four days of wall to wall ESPN coverage, including ESPN radio, probably a bunch of SportsCenter from the Open broadcasts… starting at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, to catch all of Tiger and Phil, who are going out early.

And who will win it? Odds on favorite is, of course, the man who would be back: Tiger Woods. If he plays all four days like he played the first two days at Olympic, Tiger will be tough to beat — he’s even been seen working on his infamous “stinger” shots. Lurking in the gorse is Phil Mickelson, who is way overdue overseas — and had himself a few nice sub-70 rounds at the Scottish Open last weekend as a tuneup.

What about the local lads — guys like Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, who reign atop the world standings but have zero majors between them? Of the two I like Westwood’s chances since he always seems to be in it at the end, while Donald tends to disappear. Maybe like Darren Clarke last year, this is Westwood’s time. As a dark horse I like a guy who I saw live for the first time at the U.S. Open, and marveled at the style of his swing: Former British Open champ Louis Oosthuizen. Go join the MSR group on the ESPN fantasy golf game if you want to show your own picking savvy.

In case the Open isn’t enough golf, there is also a PGA Tour event this week, the incredibly ignored True South Classic in Madison, Mississippi, as well as the fun-to-watch American Century Classic from Lake Tahoe, where celebs and athletes from other sports show off their golf prowess, or lack thereof (see Barkley, Charles). We will include TV times for those tournaments as well, below.

Our final pick? We say Tiger gets off the major schneid. Here’s where to follow the action:

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSIP

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, July 19 — ESPN, 4:30 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Friday, July 20 — ESPN, 4:30 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Saturday, July 21 — ESPN, 7 a.m. — 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — ESPN, 8 a.m. — 1 p.m.

RADIO
ESPN RADIO (check local channels)
Thursday, July 19 — 7 a.m. — 1 p.m.
Friday, July 20 — 7 a.m. — 1 p.m.
Saturday, July 21 — ESPN, 9 a.m. — 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — ESPN, 8 a.m. — 12 p.m.

Radio broadcasts will also be available through the Open app, at TheOpen.com, and at
ESPNRadio.com.

ONLINE
This is long, but worth it… what follows is the entire ESPN lineup of content from The Open:

The Open Championship on ESPN Digital Platforms
WatchESPN
All Open Championship programming on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from affiliated providers Bright House Networks, Comcast, Time Warner and Verizon FiOS TV.

ESPN.com
News, blogs and columns from ESPN.com national columnist Gene Wojciechowski and senior golf writers Farrell Evans and Bob Harig.
“Digital Drive,” an exclusive ESPN.com program hosted by ESPN the Magazine columnist Rick Reilly, will be produced each day.
“CoverItLive” live chat with Michael Collins throughout the championship.
“Red Light/Green Light” with Collins each day, examining pin placements on selected holes.
The ESPN Golf Cast application, which offers an easy-to-use interface with scoring, “CoverItLive,” video and social media elements.
Best Ball Majors, the latest installment of the ESPN Best Ball Challenge.
Interactive leaderboards and live scores.
Extensive video content, including highlights, analysis, clips from SportsCenter and press conferences.
Photo galleries, podcasts, live chats, SportsNation polling.
Mobile WAP site.
Spanish-language highlights and coverage on ESPNDeportes.com.

ESPN3
ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network will carry ESPN’s telecast of all four rounds of The Open Championship. An additional feed will have live coverage of the 1st & 18th Holes, plus player interviews from the practice range, highlights and features. Trey Wingo and Jim Kelly will share the host role, with analysts Jane Crafter and Kim Thomas and reporter Mark Donaldson. Former Open Championship winner David Duval, who is competing in the event, also will serve as an analyst while not on the course.
ESPN3 also will have a Spanish-language feed with ESPN Deportes golf announcers Francisco Aleman and former LPGA pro Silvia Bertolaccini as well as the International View from the BBC/World coverage and alternating coverage of holes 8, 9 and 10.

ESPN Mobile
Live mobile video simulcasts of ESPN’s Open Championship telecasts on Thursday-Sunday will appear on ESPN Mobile TV. The Best of The Open Championship programs for the first, third and final rounds and Thursday’s The Open Championship Today programs also will be simulcast.
News, highlights and a leaderboard will appear on the ESPN mobile Web and there will be Open Championship Insider content, news and columns, scoring alerts for top players and video shot packs for select golfers.

PGA SHOT TRACKER
No Shot Tracker at the British Open, but it will be online for the True South Classic.

FACEBOOK PAGE
Get yourself close to the Claret Jug at The Open’s Facebook page.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW
The Open’s own Twitter feed.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend. You may also catch her video reporting debut this weekend. Go Stephanie!
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

TOURNAMENT APP
Powered by video mavens at Ooyala, the Open’s App has everything you want in a handheld device app. iPad, iPhone and Android. You will still need the ESPN contract to view live video, though.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
The Royal Lytham & St. Annes has its own website, and there is good stuff on the PGA site as well.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Darren Clarke.

WHY IS IT CALLED LYTHAM & ST. ANNES?
Because the two towns of Lytham and St. Annes-on-the-Sea grew together and formed one seaside resort. And they dropped the “sea” bit. According to Wikipedia.

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Tiger Woods, 1,952 points
2. Zach Johnson, 1,920
3. Jason Dufner, 1,849
4. Hunter Mahan, 1,654
5. Bubba Watson, 1,617

See the full standings for the FedEx Cup points list.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Luke Donald; 2. Rory McIlroy; 3. Lee Westwood; 4. Tiger Woods; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

TRUE SOUTH CLASSIC TV
Thursday, July 19 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, July 20 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 21 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

AMERICAN CENTURY CLASSIC TV
Saturday, July 21 — NBC, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 22 — NBC, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, British Open, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, Facebook, Golf, Golf Channel, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, PGA, Tiger Woods, Time Warner Cable Television, Twitter, Verizon Wireless, WatchESPN, WatchESPN Tagged With: British Open, David Duval, ESPN, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, PGA, Phil Mickelson, Royal Lytham & St. Annes, The Open Championship, Tiger Woods

Ooyala, R&A Team up for British Open App — But You Still Need a Cable Contract to Watch Live Golf

July 17, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 2 Comments

Though we originally got excited here at MSR when we heard that the British Open’s app might feature another way to get live video of the event, as we expected, there is no getting around the need for a qualifying ESPN cable contract to watch the British Open via a mobile platform. As we said earlier today, this is ESPN’s baby and they are not going to let someone else end-run their mobile video strategy.

The British Open app, built by the video-services folks at Ooyala and the R&A, does have some neat stuff in it, highlights on demand and a live fly by of the course. What threw us off was the app store screen shot (see left) that shows a button for live video. But upon further review the live video link from the app merely redirects you to the WatchESPN app — for which you need a contract with Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Bright House Networks or Comcast to access the online content.

So — the app may be less useful than it originally appeared, especially if you don’t have a cable contract. According to Ooyala the app is available for Android phones, iPhones and iPads.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, British Open, Golf, iOS Tagged With: Android, Apps, British Open, Golf, iPad, iPhone, Mobile Sports Report, ooyala, Paul Kapustka, R&A

Watching Golf this Week: The British Open, aka The Open Championship, is ESPN’s Baby

July 17, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 3 Comments

Since this thing starts darn early Thursday morning — how does 4:30 a.m. Eastern time sound to you? We decided to give you a heads-up on watching golf this week, since after all it is the British Open… or as they call it over there, the Open Championship. The nut is: It’s all ESPN, all week long, for coverage of golf’s oldest tourney. To wit:

The 152nd renewal of golf’s oldest major, The Open Championship, will air live across ESPN platforms July 19-22 from Royal Lytham & St Annes in Lancashire, England. ESPN will present 36 hours of live four-round television coverage as well as prime time and afternoon encores for 73 total hours on TV.

For the first time, ESPN Radio will broadcast live action from The Open Championship with 24 total hours over the four days of the event. More than 140 hours of digital platform coverage also will appear on computers, tablets and mobile devices.

ESPN, ESPN3 and WatchESPN will have 10.5 scheduled hours of live play from each of the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, July 19-20, from 4:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET. The third round on Saturday, July 21, will air live from 7 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. with the final round on Sunday, July 22, airing live from 6 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

When it comes to watching golf — on TV or the computer — for me it is a yearly tossup as to which one I like better of the four majors, between the Masters and the British Open. Though I respect the challenge of the U.S. Open, watching it is sometimes more train wreck than golf excitement. You would have to go back to Tiger at Torrey Pines in 2008, for me, for visual excitement. The British Open, on the other hand, has weather, history, and some funky golf shots made necessary by the sheep-mown lands. It’s rarely boring and a treat after watching cookie-cutter TPC courses week after week.

Lately, the Masters has been a pleasure for online fans simply because of the multitude of offerings sent our way over the innerwebs, including the great Amen Corner cam that stays fixed on the middle stretch of Augusta National. The British Open, which rotates from course to course, is going to get a little of that treatment this year, as ESPN is promising some isolated-hole coverage of its own via its online channel, ESPN3. That’s in addition to wall-to-wall TV coverage ESPN has announced — we won’t even try to copy the list, just go here and look. Basically if you love the British Open you’re going to love ESPN this week. Gorse, heather and Scott Van Pelt. And with any luck, no Boomer.

Who’s going to win this thing? Good question. The good news for U.S. golf fans is that if you want to spend all your time watching Phil and Tiger, ESPN is even making a concession for you — though the promos on ESPN Monday night were talking about a 5 a.m. Eastern start time to coverage, Geoff Shackelford and others found out that the Worldwide Leader will actually start its cameras a half-hour earlier, to not miss any of Phil or Tiger’s early rounds.

Can I have a hallelujah? More specifics in our regular WGTW post on Thursday. Remember, you need to have a valid cable contract with Verizon FiOS, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Comcast to watch the ESPN coverage online.

Filed Under: British Open, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, Golf, PGA, The Masters, Tiger Woods, WatchESPN Tagged With: British Open, ESPN, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, Phil Mickelson, The Open Championship, Tiger Woods, WatchESPN

Watching Golf this Week: The John Deere Classic, and Senior Open

July 12, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 1 Comment

So who needs the big names? If you, like me, watched the end of last weekend’s Greenbrier tourney you saw some top-notch golf from guys I guarantee you never heard of before — and saw Ted Potter Jr. show off some stones, going eagle-birdie to get into a playoff with um, um, with… oh yeah, Troy Kelly, and win.

I love these guys. Tiger who? Phil who? The anonymous-guy PGA could continue this weekend as the pros head to a spot near and dear to my heart — western Illinois, aka Quad Cities territory — for some Midwestern heat, corn bugs, fireflies and the John Deere Classic, where Steve Stricker will be trying to win the thing for the fourth time in a row. And just for good luck, Stricker’s wife will be carrying his bag.

Steve Stricker must be angling for Husband of the Year honors. Letting his wife carry the stand bag this week.

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGC) July 5, 2012

With Zach Johnson as your highest-ranked star, it’s a field that may have you saying “who’s he” a bunch. But as last week showed, maybe that’s not so bad.

So if you need a bunch of birdies before tuning in to the wind and gorse at the British Open next week, head on over to the Golf Channel and CBS (no online video this week) for a taste of the Midwest.

BONUS GOLF COVERAGE: If the John Deere isn’t your cup of tea — or even if it is, don’t forget that the U.S. Senior Open also takes place this week, in Lake Orion, Mich. See below for TV, which is basically ESPN Thursday-Friday and NBC Saturday-Sunday. There may be some online action via WatchESPN, but you need a compatible cable contract if so.

Here’s where to follow the action:

THE JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, July 12 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, July 13 — Golf Channel, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 14 — CBS, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 15 — CBS, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

U.S. SENIOR OPEN TV
Thursday, July 12 — ESPN, 3 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Friday, July 13 — ESPN2, 3 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 14 — NBC, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 15 — NBC, 3 p.m. — 6 p.m.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
12 p.m. — 6 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. — 6 p.m., Sunday

ONLINE
No Live@ video this week — the PGA’s live online video doesn’t return until the Barclays in late August, so you will need to get your online fix from…

PGA SHOT TRACKER
If all you want is shots and distances (which can be addicting) get your fix via Shot Tracker.

FACEBOOK PAGE
Of course the John Deere Classic has a Facebook page. Like it.

And don’t forget the Senior Open Facebook page.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW
The John Deere Classic has its own feed.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend. Check her Instagram stream for some cool shots of the Homestead, one of our favorite places.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

TOURNAMENT APP
This is new — at least to us — but if you are there the John Deere Classic has its own app, which looks like it has all the stuff the regular PGA app has plus some local info. Download away.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
The tourney has some fine info on the TPC Deere Run. Here’s the course’s own website.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST YEAR?
Stricker. And the year before. And the year before.

LOCAL FLAVOR
I love that Wikipedia names five cities for the Quad cities. In the old days the hard one to get in trivia answers was East Moline, which if memory serves was bigger than Moline itself. Argue in the comments if you know better. We’ll link to the Quad Cities Times for our local coverage.

FEDEX CUP LEADERS
1. Tiger Woods, 1,952 points
2. Jason Dufner, 1,849
3. Hunter Mahan, 1,654
4. Bubba Watson, 1,617
5. Matt Kuchar, 1,423

See the full standings for the FedEx Cup points list.

WORLD GOLF RANKINGS
1. Luke Donald; 2. Rory McIlroy; 3. Lee Westwood; 4. Tiger Woods; 5. Webb Simpson.
See the official World Golf Ranking list.

Filed Under: Apps, CBS Sports, ESPN, Golf, Golf Channel, NBC Sports, PGA, Tiger Woods, US Open, WatchESPN Tagged With: British Open, ESPN, John Deere Classic, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, PGA Tour, Steve Stricker, Tiger Woods, U.S. Senior Open

British Open OKs Mobile Device Use at Royal Lytham

April 23, 2012 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Bloody good, we say! According to this post at the PGA’s site the R&A will allow mobile device use at this year’s British Open, aka the Open Championship. According to the PGA post the decision was made “to improve the spectacle and tap into a younger market.”

There’s no need for us to quote the full post but we do like the money quote:

“There is no denying the attachment people feel to their mobile phones both in terms of gathering information and staying in touch with family and friends,” said R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson.

Indeed. The British Open takes place July 19-22, at the Royal Lytham & St Annes course. If you’re going, check your international data rate plan first.

Filed Under: Golf, Wi-Fi Tagged With: British Open, R&A