How to watch this week’s LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers has been one of the event’s important issues.
No fans will be allowed on-site to watch the event live and it’s not on Golf Channel or “TV” per se.
“There’s two parts of it — one’s easier than the other,” said Brian Carroll, senior vice president of global media distribution for the LPGA.
The tournament will be streamed on LPGA.com from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Thursday’s first round and Friday’s second round, and from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for Saturday’s final round. Fans can go to the website and click on a link to watch it for free. But it will be coverage of just one hole.
The full tournament coverage will stream on Peacock on Thursday and Friday from 3-6 p.m. ET and Saturday from 2-5 p.m. ET. There is free content on Peacock, but the tournament is part of a subscription component that is $4.99 per month. Peacock can be watched on smart TVs like other streaming apps such as Netflix or Amazon or Apple+, and also on laptops or smartphones.
“You can sign up (for Peacock) and then delete it before the next month rolls around,” Carroll said.
With the tournament coming together late, and with no fans and not a great deal of room on the property for a typical TV compound and all that goes with it, the LPGA is looking at this as a chance to try something with its tournament coverage.
“The reality is we funded this tournament ourselves,” Carroll said. “We’re trying a different production model, scaled down.”
Everything is produced in a studio in Palm Beach.
“The different production allows us to experiment a little bit,” Carroll said. “We’re doing the production ourselves this week, so just thought let’s try to have fun with it.”
The talent being used will be familiar to golf viewers. Chantel McCabe will host the streaming on LPGA.com, and the hosts of the Peacock coverage are Grant Boone and Paige Mackenzie, and Jerry Foltz, Amy Rogers and Tripp Isenhour will be on-site for both.
“The afternoon coverage, the intention is for it to look very much like a normal week,” Carroll said. “Golf Channel graphics. Golf Channel announcers. Golf Channel personnel behind the scenes. They know the players really well so I think it’ll come off really well.
“I know it’s a hard thing. You can’t just turn on Golf Channel.”
Carroll said with the Winter Olympics in China starting and some of that coverage streaming on Peacock, that’s another opportunity to see what the viewership will be.
“We want to see what that audience ends up looking like,” he said. “With the Olympics on, there’s a ton of people, in theory, using Peacock this week.
“Let’s see how it does. It’s part of an experiment.”
CME Group Tour Championship highlighted
On Monday, the LPGA announced the premiere of “LPGA All Access: CME Group Tour Championship,” a behind-the-scenes documentary detailing the excitement, competition and glamour of the Tour’s 2021 crowning event, which was played at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in November.
The series will air on YouTube and LPGA.com, with three 15-minute episodes, the last on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Others aired on Monday and Tuesday, also at 8 p.m., and are still available.
The documentary shares exclusive moments with players, caddies, sponsors and staff, both on and off the course.
Featured moments include:
- An in-depth look into the season-long competitive battle between Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda, who fought all week for the titles of Rolex Player of the Year and Race to the CME Globe Champion
- 2021 Chevron Championship winner Patty Tavatanakit’s preparations for the red carpet for the Rolex Awards, where she received the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award and the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award
- Workout sessions and pickleball matches with Gaby Lopez and Amy Olson, who also shared a house for the week and made a relaxing meal of Mexican food from Lopez’s recipe book
- Early-morning golf-course scouting with LPGA Tour Rules Official Annie Giangrosso and caddie Will Davidson, who looped for past CME winner Lexi Thompson
- Interviews with LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan and CME Group Chairman/CEO Terry Duffy
“This documentary helps show the accessibility and personality of our players, along with the drama and intrigue of the CME Group Tour Championship,” said Brian Carroll, senior vice president of global media distribution for the LPGA. “Hopefully this is just the beginning of our storytelling in this format.”
Field update
No players who already were not in the Drive On Championship field finished in the top 10 of the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio on Sunday, so Jennifer Chang of Cary, North Carolina, and Agathe Laisne of France made the 120-player field.
Danielle Kang, who finished second on Sunday, was one of two to withdraw. Elizabeth Szokol was the other. That put American Alana Uriell and Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland into the field.
American Andrea Lee won the qualifier on Monday with a 5-under 67, and Frida Kinhult of Sweden won a playoff for the second qualifying spot at 4 under with Daniela Darquea of Ecuador.
