I have recently gone down a bit of a rabbit-hole looking into the quality of televised golf coverage, and despite being unenamoured with the viewing experience myself, I was still shocked in my early investigations to find that the PGA Tour showed just 88 shots in one hour of full coverage.
LIV Golf produced more encouraging results, with 120 shots shown in the same time period, but I was eager to see how well the DP World Tour stacked up against the other elite tours in the men's professional game.
With a stopwatch and notepad in hand, I settled in to watch 60 minutes of full coverage from the Italian Open, but to be honest, I quickly found myself regretting it. Here are three reasons why I didn't enjoy the experience...
1. The Number Of Golf Shots Shown
When comparing the three main tours, and their televised coverage, I would have guessed the DP World Tour would stack up most closely to its strategic partner, the PGA Tour... and that is exactly what I found.
In the hour of golf that I watched, there were a total of 85 shots shown – three less than the PGA Tour. That puts the DP World Tour bottom of the pile, and a massive 35 shots behind LIV Golf.
One thing I will say for the product is that there were no unnecessary breakaways to the studio for random filler content, but what we had instead was plenty of watching players standing around waiting for their playing partners to hole out or play their next shot.
Occasionally we were offered some on-course interviews with players competing in the event, which were actually quite insightful, but overall I feel the balance between meaningful coverage and 'dead time' is still way off.
2. Torture By Putting
If I asked you to guess how many of those 85 shots shown were putts, I am confident most people would underestimate. A staggering 65 percent of the televised shots where putts (56 in total), with the coverage constantly flicking from green to green to see players following the same routine.
The inane process of reading the green, hitting the putt, picking the ball up or holing out from close range and then eventually repeating with the next player on the carousel was more than my brain could handle – and by halfway through I found myself questioning what enjoyment I was actually getting from watching it.
The tipping point came when viewers were made to watch 13 putts in a row, followed by a 15 minute period where we were offered a total of 17 putts in comparison to zero tee shots... which leads me on to my next point.
3. What's The Course Like At The Italian Open?
The answer to that question is, I couldn't tell you. Other than it's green complexes, I barely saw anything of the Adriatic Golf Club Cervia. With the DP World Tour returning to the Emilia-Romagna region for the first time in 31 years, I was excited to see somewhere different following three years (and a Ryder Cup) at Marco Simone Golf Club.
As a viewer who is genuinely interested in the course and the challenges it presents, I struggled to get a feel for how it might play over the weekend or which holes could prove to be the key deciders coming down the final stretch on Sunday.
I understand that the logistics of covering the entire course in cameras is perhaps unachievable at an event of this scale, but I don't believe that at least seeing each of the tee shots for those in featured groups is too much to ask.
So, What Needs To Change?
Let's be frank here, the DP World Tour field strength is generally not at the same level as the PGA Tour. My own view, irrespective of world ranking points, is that it doesn't come close to LIV Golf either, so what does it need to do to stand out?
Firstly, I believe it has to make its viewing experience more compelling. If you want more people to watch, engage with the tour and in turn raise its profile among fans and players, showing 56 putts in a one hour window is not going to do it.
We can't see every shot from every player on the golf course, that would be ridiculous, but a little more variety from across the golf course, paired with an increase to its already positive 'inside the ropes' on-course experience would instantly improve this.
My concern is that without a niche offering, the DP World Tour may continue to struggle to capture fans' imagination. With apathy levels rising among many golf fans with regards to the televised viewing experience, this could be the perfect opportunity to shake things up and try something new.
