US Open coverage by FOX

[Konklifer]

Shot tracer, Faxon, and less commercials are the positives.

 

The commentating is pretty awful. Buck loves to hear himself talk and ends up sticking his foot in his mouth. Azinger is looking for the next sound bite. Strange is boring and his predictions on what the player will do are often wrong. And it is glaring that Sonders was no where to be found today.

[8602081]

love shot tracer..

 

It also showed how the wind made the ball change it's path..

Saw a draw change to fade..

 

 

I think this was a good tournament..

[sailfishchris]

I love that they got Ray Romano to do color commentary..........errr.......uhh .....Faxon.

[Highgolfer07]

My biggest issue was the fact that they. Overex players rounds versus showing the leaders through the first 2 rounds and secondly, the commentators where atrocious

[KillerPenguin]

Just have to say that fox stinks. I just realized that my dvr did not capture anything past 3pm today. Why ? Fox starts and stops coverage from the multiple fox networks . I hit record for the entire event. But at 3 pm it stopped and started a new event. Thanks fox. So I have to go in and program it to record several events to get the whole show. I know I know it's ultimately my fault. But damn. Why so much swapping around. For the first two rounds while I was out of town I could watch half the coverage and the other half I didn't hav the correct fox Chanel. Just piss pour. It's as if this isn't a big enough sports event for thm to dedicate one Chanel to for the entire length.

Mo' money, mo' problems. I feel you, dawg.

[Orange Hog]

I loved the shot tracer and I do think this year's commentary was better than last year, but Joe Buck is still the worst. He's so arrogant it's disgusting. I think Zinger and Faxon were just ok...not great. I prefer Faldo over those two any day.

 

Honestly, I turned down the volume for most of the coverage of the final round so I didn't have to listen tot he rabble from those 3 guys, especially Buck.

[Outdors21]

Still better than NBC's version.

 

Can't wait to see them destroy the Open in a month. Woo.

[Handfull]

Way more shot tracer then other networks so I prefer fox coverage.

[dave412]

more shot tracer=awesome..

Commentators.. i dont know.. joe buck is eh.. i dont mind zinger/strange

was holly sonders even there yesterday? never saw her on TV, not once... and i watched a lot.. good for her.. signed a big deal, and is almost invisible.. pretty amazing

 

i dont know... fox is just OK.. the good news for them is that they get better every year slightly?

[heavy_hitter]

Shane Bacon is a complete hack.

[Nixhex524]

The shot tracer was awesome, love seeing how the wind takes the ball for a ride. I'm obviously in the minority though, I don't mind Joe Buck, in fact I think he does a good job. Couldn't stand anyone else though... Faxon and Strange annoyed the crap out of me. I didnt get to watch every minute, far from it, but it didn't feel like this was covered by people who know the game. Obviously not the case, just the impression I get... I love the hate for Buck though, I must be missing something. Camera work and shot tracer were great, though. I much prefer the Nobilo/Gannon combo on GC...

[Bad9]

The split screen with shot racer is one of the best golf coverage innovations in decades.

[sheldonjhacker]

[williamsnrb]

Obviously Joe Buck has more qualifications than most of us here but I wonder if he knows golf.

I remember when Koepka is hitting his second shot with a long iron Buck said "Koepka with a 3 wood." Also on 9, someone was teeing off and Buck said "Player A hitting his second into the green."

Maybe he is not paying attention.

 

As A Cardinal fan, I love Joe Buck. But I did hear him pronounce 'Waialae' (the golf course in Hawaii) as 'We-ah-lay-ah'. Facepalm...

[Bholden52]

Did anybody else notice that when they cut to the audio of the guys on course that you could barely hear them? At my place, you could hear the sounds of the course (birds and etc) better than you could Ken Brown. I thought I was just getting old but it kept happening each time

[Konklifer]

The fake sounds (putts dropping in the cup, birds) were so shameless, it amazes me they were approved.

[Greg_B]

Yes, the sounds of the birds and the airplane drowned out most of the on-course voices. Sadly, Faxon's babbling was front and center in the audio mix though.

 

I find it odd that 3 years in, Fox still hasn't found a formula that works in terms of camera placement, on-air personnel, and graphics package. Even forgetting about the debacle that Holly Sonders has become for a moment, not getting distance/club choice on shots, or an occasional full-field leaderboard, even on a scroll, some ground-level camera shots on putts or tough lies, or a shot of a player scorecard hole by hole seems bizarre at this late date.

 

@Konklifer - those balls dropping were not fake sounds. Fox puts a microphone in each cup. They showed it being done early in the round when they let us watch the USGA cutting the hole location on 18.

[mocokid]

Yeah, where was Holly on Sunday? I liked her outfits the first couple of days. Not sure how Daren could talk and look at her with a straight face.

[robelinks]

I thought Fox did a good job. It was nice to hear a positive vibe between the Euro's and the US guys. Shot tracer is a must.

 

I also thought USGA did a decent job in the set-up and I have been critical in the past of them "tricking up" the courses. Tough, but fair and fun to watch.

 

Very enjoyable tournament - well done all around.

[MountainGoat]

I'm very concerned about Holly.

[jeffreyl]

Watched as I often do Sports events with the sound muted.....tracers good, not so much the announcers and sideshows

[golf1010]

Didn't see graphics with club selection

[mosesgolf]

From a creature of Habit perspective I missed NBC and Johnny Miller.

 

[ldchristopher]

Obviously Joe Buck has more qualifications than most of us here but I wonder if he knows golf.

I remember when Koepka is hitting his second shot with a long iron Buck said "Koepka with a 3 wood." Also on 9, someone was teeing off and Buck said "Player A hitting his second into the green."

Maybe he is not paying attention.

 

The spotter/Fox truck is telling him what club a lot of the time.

 

Who here has more qualifications than Buck? 15+ World Series, 5-10 Super Bowls, 2 US Opens.

Joe Buck's qualifications are that his last name is Buck. That's why he got the job and that's why he kept the job (by the way, his old man was the most boring play-by-play guy ever, in my opinion). Sure, he's called 2 US Opens and a bunch of World Series, but he's been awful at all of them and hasn't gotten any better. I did laugh that he was "addicted" to hair restoration surgery though. I guess he didn't want to look like his dad. The name was enough.

[Greg_B]

Yeah, where was Holly on Sunday? I liked her outfits the first couple of days. Not sure how Daren could talk and look at her with a straight face.

 

From the way he was ogling her in those segments together I figured the two of them were hidden away in the Wisconsin Dells in some motel on Sunday.

[Greg_B]

From a creature of Habit perspective I missed NBC and Johnny Miller.

 

I think a lot of people feel that way.

 

Fox has done a good job with showing the pictures and using some technical things like shot tracer in a much more useful way. In other respects though their production still seems amateurish and the announce crews are atrocious. I wonder if the changes at the top within the USGA since the deal was awarded to Fox in 2013 might mean that they are looking for a way out of the Fox deal. NBC's offer was a few million a year less but would have presented the championship in a much more enjoyable way. With ratings tanking and Mike Davis and Diana Murphy being more friendly with NBC I find myself hoping that there might be a change being pondered.

[NTKT10]

Do yourselves a favor, mute your TV and listen to the sirius/XM coverage.

[ex0dus]

I think they did ok. Buck is out of his element but Azinger, Faxon and Strange did a good job. Obviously with experience things will go smoother but i wasn't bothered by their coverage.

 

The only thing that really got on my nerves was that airplane.

[jimb6golf]

Other than Joe Buck, who wasn't that bad, the announcers were pretty good especially Faxon. I guess I didn't like Azinger that much either. But the camera work and low angle shots of 2nd shots into greens and the greens themselves were terrific. Can you imagine how good it would be to see the real slopes at Augusta instead of all the high angle shots? I think the other networks need to start showing better angles of the courses, approach shots and greens. Fox is still new at golf, and could use a few tweaks, but I enjoyed it. The course was pretty awesome to see too.

[nix]

How about the looooooong and boring montage of guys sitting in school desks and taking tests instead of showing actual golf.