Why doesn't USA/ESPN or CBS cover the entire round @ the Masters?

Question

Let's see. You have Tiger and Phil on the course going through the first 7 holes, and rather than show live coverage, you show a clips/history program. What if the NFL decided to only air the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, or ABC aired the last 10 laps of the Indy 500, or just the 9th inning of a World Series game. Every other major event has entire coverage from start to finish. So why not this tournament?

Answer 1

what everyone else has said. i thought i'd add that att u-verse subscribers (such as myself) get to start watching the broadcast 1 hour early. it's also available online 1 hour before the network coverage starts.

Answer 2

You don't see that kind of coverage for any golf tournament. So why would they start now. The first tee time was at 10:50  this morning (ET) and the last tee time was at 2:40. That's almost 5 hours of just tee times. Then there are rain delays and sometimes the play has been called on account of darkness and play would continue the next day.

They only give so much time for golf coverage. The other games don't last nearly as long as golf so they can cover the games from beginning to end. It's just not feasible to cover the entire tournament. So they cover the players that have the most to gain by winning. Those are the players that the fans want to see anyway.

Answer 3

Traditionally, the Masters coverage has included only the final nine holes. It's only been in the last few years that the first nine have been shown at all.

That's the way the Augusta National members wanted it, and that's what CBS has to do. They dictate everything about the broadcast, whether or not it make sense. Notice: spectators are "patrons"; the rough is the "second cut" and so  on ... You do things their way, or you're out.

Answer 4

You can watch the front nie at www.masters.org click on masters extra tag!

Answer 5

If Tiger or Phil are not in the final group, and the leaders are shown for their entire 18 holes, you're talking about six or seven hours of coverage.

What other sport gets seven hour coverage of their biggest game?  DUH!

Answer 6

it would be tough to secure that kind of schedule for that length of time.  They ususally start just before the final groups tee off, so they can show the majority of the leaders' rounds while taking up the least amount of tv time possibe.  And they always show highlights anyway, and scores are updated constantly online or at www.masters.org.  If you have a problem with it, then try to get tickets for next year's event or hack a government satellite and watch it that way.

Although i agree with you that it should, the Masters and other golf tourneys go on all day due to the length of time it takes to play a round of golf and the number of competitors.  All the other events you mentioned start every competitor at the same time.  Golf is the one exeption.