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    •  June 8, 2017

    USGA/FOX decision to announce U.S. Open tee times on Undisputed was a failure

    June 8, 2017
    Boredom Spieth
    Contributor
    Boredom Spieth
    Contributor

    The USGA and Fox decided to announce the tee times for the U.S. Open via shouting match show Shannon and Skip: Undisputed. And while there’s a “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” element to this, you really have to wonder what the USGA was thinking.

    It’s the first time U.S. golf’s governing body decided to announce U.S. Open tee times in a spectacular fashion. And while we’re for any and all U.S. Open-related fanfare, the medium of transmission was questionable.

    That’s right. The polemicists at Undisputed, for who golf is maybe 10th on their list of sports to discuss, were chosen to announce tee times.

    Now that’s already curious enough, but then let’s consider how the “announcement” actually went down.

    Not surprisingly, Skip and Shannon led with the Cavs-Warriors game. OK. No doubt the NBA Finals trumps the announcement of golf tee times in the pantheon of popular interest. But it took the show two hours to get to the tee times.

    Finally came the announcement: Former U.S. Open winners: Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and Martin Kaymer are paired together. Here’s what the duo had to say about this news:

    Bayless: “Mmm, great grouping. And for golf’s sake, I’m rooting for Dustin Johnson to win his second straight U.S. Open, then go win the British Open, then come back and win the PGA and create some semblance of Tiger-like buzz. Not that you can fill the void, but at least he has enough edge to him, that it’s going to bring back some of the casual golf fans if he gets hot again.”

    Sharpe: “Well, DJ hits it long, but if you don’t hit it in the fairway playing at the Open, you’re not winning this tournament. Jordan Spieth doesn’t hit it far, but he normally keeps it in the fairway. And Marty Kay- Martin Kaymer, he’s normally steady. So, I don’t care how far he hits it, you know DJ can hit it 400 yards, but if you put it in the rough, he’s not even making the cut.”

    Almost everything above is either factually false or just plain stupid (outside of “DJ hits it far”), but let’s get on to the rest of the tee times…

    Oh wait, back to talking about the Finals, you say? And that was it! Skip and Shannon went right back to talking basketball. Not another mention of, you know, the rest of the tee times.

    It’s tough to think the audience enjoyed how Undisputed chose to present the much-teased tee times. But then again, from the looks of the replies to the USGA’s tweet announcing the announcement, as it were, the audience wasn’t exactly enthused about the decision.

    Here’a sampling of the replies (with some bonus incredulity from one Smylie Kaufman).

    Boredom Spieth
    Contributor
    Boredom Spieth is not an alias. Boredom Spieth is a proud Stetson-wearing Texan, as you can see in his photo.
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