There is surely some person on this Earth who would rather see old pictures of William C. Fownes instead of watching the best players in the world compete against each other on Oakmont’s unforgiving terrain. There must be a small faction that needs to have a two-shot of announcers with nary a whiff of actual action in the frame inform them that the course is difficult while they reset the table with stunning frequency. And of course you could find someone who prefers to have their hand held through each chapter of this weekend’s story than to use their own imagination.
Then there’s everyone else, myself included, who wonders why the NBC family of networks chooses to present the U.S. Open this way. To be clear, that’s not exactly the value judgment it may appear. It’s not that the first 10½ hours spent from this major’s tasting menu on USA weren’t enjoyable. This crew presents a show that has a Big Game feel. The scorebug is crisp and stately. It’s robust in scope if lacking in breadth. Most importantly, a workday spent monitoring golf’s grittiest test can never be bad.
