The PGA Tour returns to a normal Thursday through Sunday schedule this week for the third leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the BMW Championship in Denver. It's a short week for the PGA Tour, turning around from that Labor Day Monday finish in Boston and then flying across the country for the Thursday AM start at Cherry Hills. The Tour tries to stay in the same state or region from week-to-week but the postseason is a different stretch, hitting four major U.S. metropolitan areas in four weeks (NYC, Boston, Denver, Atlanta). The travel is obviously made much more comfortable by private jets, even if Jordan Spieth had to borrow some baggage room on Rory McIlroy's larger airplane.
While these top 70 players remaining are some of the biggest names in the game and used to traveling all over the world, this is the most competitive-heavy stretch of their calendar. It's rare to have a Rory McIlroy or Phil Mickelson play four straight weeks on Tour, but that's what this year's FedEx Cup demands. There would typically be a one-week break scattered in during the postseason, most often after the Labor Day finish in Boston and the BMW Championship. But with the Ryder Cup bearing down and slotted for that final weekend in September, the PGA Tour needed to wrap up the playoffs in time for a weekend off in between the TOUR Championship and that team competition in Scotland. The USA team plane is set to leave for Scotland on Saturday, Sep. 20th.
So we're right back at it on Thursday morning at Cherry Hills. The 70-man field is one of the smallest of the season and allows the Tour some flexibility on the tee sheet and with media coverage. This event is typically held in the Chicagoland area, replacing the old Western Open on the schedule. But the move out to Denver and Cherry Hills, which hasn't hosted a PGA Tour event in decades, allows for even more room to take the broadcast into primetime. Golf Channel will push coverage back two hours for each of the first two rounds, going live from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET.
With the NFL season kicking off, the home stretch of the PGA Tour schedule is carried by Golf Channel/NBC. CBS can't cover golf on Sunday afternoons, while NBC's Sunday Night Football does not conflict with the normal weekend finish. So we may have a schedule that's pushed back for the first two days, but when NBC takes over on the weekend, we'll be scheduled for the normal 6 p.m. ET conclusion, giving NBC plenty of time to do their pregame show for the Broncos-Colts SNF game.
One of the big benefits of a Golf Channel/NBC split in coverage is that the two are sister networks under Comcast. Unlike CBS, there's no half-hour blackout period as we switch over on the weekend and, in fact, there's an added layer of coverage. Golf Channel will continue their "spotlight coverage" over the final two rounds. This is a concurrent broadcast to the normal coverage over on NBC, except this spotlights the final three holes at Cherry Hills and peppers the screen with stats and data. There will be pro tracer graphics for most tee shots, season and tournament stats, and TrackMan data for each swing.
It's certainly a different and, at times, informative way to watch golf. Many of those graphics and stats will probably be put into use more in the future of televised golf. Everyone is intrigued with the effects TrackMan is having on the swing and teaching of the swing at different levels of the game.
This week's cut down is the largest of the FedEx Cup playoffs. We'll go from the top 70 in the standings to the final 30 for the TOUR Championship in Atlanta. It's rare for the Tour to stop in Colorado anymore -- the old event at Castle Pines has been extinct for several years. So the ball and the modern equipment blasting it will be fun to watch at the Denver altitude (Rory already hit a 370-yard 3-wood and a driver off the range). Here's how to watch for the week:
Thursday's first-round coverageTelevision:4 to 8 p.m. ET -- Golf Channel
8:30 to 12:30 a.m. -- Golf Channel (replay)
Online streams:1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. -- Media featured groups stream
4 to 8 p.m. -- Golf Channel simulcast stream
Radio:2 to 8 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)
Friday's second-round coverageTelevision:4 to 8 p.m. ET -- Golf Channel
8:30 to 12:30 a.m. -- Golf Channel (replay)
Online streams:1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. -- Media featured groups stream
4 to 8 p.m. -- Golf Channel simulcast stream
Radio:2 to 8 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)
Saturday's third-round coverageTelevision:1 to 3 p.m. ET -- Golf Channel
3 to 6 p.m. -- NBC
3 to 5 p.m. -- Golf Channel "spotlight coverage" of Cherry Hills CC finishing holes (Nos. 16-18)
9:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. -- Golf Channel (replay)
Online streams:11 a.m. to 6 p.m. -- Media featured groups stream
1 to 6 p.m. -- Golf Channel/NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream
Radio:Noon to 6 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)
Sunday's final round coverageTelevision:Noon to 2 p.m. ET -- Golf Channel
2 to 6 p.m. -- NBC
2 to 5 p.m. -- Golf Channel "spotlight coverage" of Cherry Hills CC finishing holes (Nos. 16-18)
9:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. -- Golf Channel (replay)
Online streams:11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Media featured groups stream
Noon to 6 p.m. -- Golf Channel/NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream
Radio:Noon to 6 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)
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