Workday Charity Open: CBS Sports Drops the Ball Again

While the PGA Tour enjoyed a magical finish at the Workday Charity Open, fans were left without many options to see it, thanks to CBS Sports

Sunday at the Workday Charity Open provided everything a golf fan could dream of. A top notch venue in Muirfield Village, a leaderboard filled with young stars and a back nine showdown between Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa culminating in a playoff.

Of course, golf fans had trouble seeing it since CBS did not offer it on television. The long-time golf broadcast partner continues to do everything in their power to prevent golf fans and casual fans alike from enjoying their product – which happens to be showing golf!

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I have written about CBS before, and I find their broadcast mundane, watered down and ultimately unexciting. However, despite the numerous commercial breaks and bumbling commentary, they do show golf on television, which I, along with most golf fans, watch. So this error – where they somehow decided to show paid programming and bull riding instead of live sports in a world frothing for entertainment due to an unprecedented pandemic – somehow stands out as their worst performance yet.

There was much written about TV contract rights and the challenges presented when the Workday Charity Open opted for early tee times due to an upcoming storm. I understand this and will not pretend to be a lawyer or someone who understands the intricacies of these agreements. However, let’s look back to the Masters in 2019; somehow, despite all the incredible hurdles which resulted in Sunday’s final round being streamed on the crappy CBSSports site, CBS managed to put the Masters live. Can you imagine not watching Tiger Woods win major #15 live on television? Of course not! They made it happen. (Also this gives us an opportunity to re-watch this incredible scene)

Which makes this situation so frustrating and baffling for golf fans

The Workday Charity Open is not equivalent to the Masters, that is not my argument. Rather, it is that CBS – via a terrible production filled with commercials, idiotic announcers and the overall inability to show golf shots in an attractive way to viewers – continues to do a disservice to the game. The final round on Sunday was must-see TV, featuring Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa on an incredible course during a global pandemic. And they did not show it on television. How is that possible? HOW?!? This is a prime opportunity for great golf viewership and to excite people about the sport. And this network can’t be bothered to shut off their paid programming? That is an insult to golf fans.

To those that are casual golf fans, I equate this situation to the MLB (during a pre-COVID season); imagine a team had a day night doubleheader but their broadcast partner did not show 6 innings of the day game because they had previously scheduled programming. That sounds stupid, right? It is, and it would never happen.

So why does CBS get to rob golf fans blind and continually make errors? As Randy Moss once said:

There is a massive contract in place, which pays the PGA Tour handsomely. The tour does not have an incentive to force CBS to make changes, but for the good of their sport, it is necessary for leaders at Ponte Vedra Beach to step in and stop this mockery. CBS needs to shape up – or golf fans will continue to miss out and the game will only suffer when it has a chance to thrive in an unparalleled global environment.