FOX SPORTS' 116th U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS ...
FOX SPORTS’ 116th U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS – FRIDAY, JUNE 17 LIVE COVERAGE OF SECOND ROUND RESUMES SATURDAY AT 7:30 AM ET ON FS1 Azinger on co-leader Dustin Johnson: “This is his to win; I think it just feels like it is his time.” Following a Thursday riddled with adverse weather conditions that led to multiple extended delays in the action, FOX Sports delivered 13 hours of extended U.S. Open coverage Friday between FS1 and FOX. Coverage resumes Saturday morning, beginning at 7:30 AM ET on FS1, as the second round concludes and third round action begins at Oakmont Country Club. Coverage moves to the FOX broadcast network from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM ET, and the final hour of golf returns to FS1 from 8:00 to 9:00 PM ET. The complete television and digital streaming schedule can be found HERE. Highlights from today’s broadcast: Special Feature Elements
Analyst Mark Brooks and studio host Holly Sonders break down Oakmont’s uniquely challenging 17th hole with a virtual graphic, illustrating the results from the first round of play by showing the recorded scoring differences between players electing to lay up versus those attempting to drive the green. Find the clip HERE.
Among several technological innovations integrated into the broadcast, FOX Sports utilizes its ‘Virtual Eye’ on-screen graphic tool, showing a split screen that includes a ground-level view of players teeing off alongside a virtual aerial view of the ProTracer over a recreation of the hole. An example of the technology, updated for this year’s U.S. Open coverage, can be viewed HERE.
In one of today’s ‘Brownie Points’ segments, on-course reporter Ken Brown examines just how fast the fairways are at Oakmont Country Club, using some slightly unconventional methods. Find the clip HERE.
Notes and Quotes Lead analyst Paul Azinger on the performance of co-leader Dustin Johnson, who fired two rounds below par today, following last year’s final-round disappointment at Chambers Bay: “You either learn from your experiences or you never recover from them, and Dustin Johnson has recovered nicely from the disaster at Chambers Bay. He hasn’t won, but he is playing unbelievable golf, and I think that he has just gotten stronger mentally. This is his to win; I think it just feels like it is his time … He’s a real thoroughbred and it’s a real testament to who he is as a player. It takes a lot of heart for him to be willing to get himself another opportunity here to erase the calamity of last year.” Earlier in the broadcast, Azinger discussed the mental game and how much impact a player’s attitude can have on his ability to contend in the U.S. Open: “It’s all about attitude at this point. A bad attitude’s like a flat tire. If you don’t change it, you’re not going anywhere. If ever there was a place to have a great attitude, it would be at this golf tournament … You can’t grumble your way to a U.S. Open trophy. You just try to have a great attitude and try to win that battlefield of the mind.” Also early in today’s broadcast, course design expert and studio analyst Gil Hanse provided details of a significant lightning strike that occurred during the last of the thunderstorms Thursday afternoon near the 17th hole at Oakmont: “While we were watching a lot of what was happening on the surface with the rain and the bunkers, there was actually a lot of excitement underground. They had a lightning strike hit a tree adjacent to the 17th green and it traveled through the ground and hit the cabling and wiring in the irrigation system, blowing the irrigation system out of the ground on 17 and in front of the driving range. So, John Zimmers, the superintendent, and his right-hand man, Dave Delsandro, were watching the radar and all of the sudden the flow meter starts spinning out of control and they’re wondering, ‘Where is the water going?’ So they had to get in a truck, run out, shut the pumps down and ultimately isolate the valves to shut the water off and figure out where it was. So there is a lot that goes into what these guys do and they are the most dedicated people in the profession. It’s amazing what they did to get this place in shape. They had the bunkers rebuilt, put back together and then it rained again another half-inch last night, so it was a tough go for them.” Full clip HERE. Hanse also said he expects Oakmont to return to its treacherous form during the weekend rounds as Thursday’s rain continues to dry out: “We talked this morning a lot about the yeoman’s effort that the maintenance staff put into getting the golf course back, and now I think we’re trying to figure out, ‘When is the evolution going to swing back to the consistency?’ Golf course maintenance is a progression. You’ve got the intensity and the height of cut; I think we’re going to see the greens come back first, then we’ll see the approaches, [then] fairways and then, ultimately, the bunkers. The membership probably doesn’t care if they get the rough mown anytime soon, and one feature that we haven’t seen come into play yet is the entry side – the fairway side, of all of these fairway bunkers. That is tightly mown, and it has just been too wet for the balls to release and get into those bunkers.”
Analyst Mark Brooks and studio host Holly Sonders break down Oakmont’s uniquely challenging 17th hole with a virtual graphic, illustrating the results from the first round of play by showing the recorded scoring differences between players electing to lay up versus those attempting to drive the green. Find the clip HERE.
Among several technological innovations integrated into the broadcast, FOX Sports utilizes its ‘Virtual Eye’ on-screen graphic tool, showing a split screen that includes a ground-level view of players teeing off alongside a virtual aerial view of the ProTracer over a recreation of the hole. An example of the technology, updated for this year’s U.S. Open coverage, can be viewed HERE.
In one of today’s ‘Brownie Points’ segments, on-course reporter Ken Brown examines just how fast the fairways are at Oakmont Country Club, using some slightly unconventional methods. Find the clip HERE.
Notes and Quotes Lead analyst Paul Azinger on the performance of co-leader Dustin Johnson, who fired two rounds below par today, following last year’s final-round disappointment at Chambers Bay: “You either learn from your experiences or you never recover from them, and Dustin Johnson has recovered nicely from the disaster at Chambers Bay. He hasn’t won, but he is playing unbelievable golf, and I think that he has just gotten stronger mentally. This is his to win; I think it just feels like it is his time … He’s a real thoroughbred and it’s a real testament to who he is as a player. It takes a lot of heart for him to be willing to get himself another opportunity here to erase the calamity of last year.” Earlier in the broadcast, Azinger discussed the mental game and how much impact a player’s attitude can have on his ability to contend in the U.S. Open: “It’s all about attitude at this point. A bad attitude’s like a flat tire. If you don’t change it, you’re not going anywhere. If ever there was a place to have a great attitude, it would be at this golf tournament … You can’t grumble your way to a U.S. Open trophy. You just try to have a great attitude and try to win that battlefield of the mind.” Also early in today’s broadcast, course design expert and studio analyst Gil Hanse provided details of a significant lightning strike that occurred during the last of the thunderstorms Thursday afternoon near the 17th hole at Oakmont: “While we were watching a lot of what was happening on the surface with the rain and the bunkers, there was actually a lot of excitement underground. They had a lightning strike hit a tree adjacent to the 17th green and it traveled through the ground and hit the cabling and wiring in the irrigation system, blowing the irrigation system out of the ground on 17 and in front of the driving range. So, John Zimmers, the superintendent, and his right-hand man, Dave Delsandro, were watching the radar and all of the sudden the flow meter starts spinning out of control and they’re wondering, ‘Where is the water going?’ So they had to get in a truck, run out, shut the pumps down and ultimately isolate the valves to shut the water off and figure out where it was. So there is a lot that goes into what these guys do and they are the most dedicated people in the profession. It’s amazing what they did to get this place in shape. They had the bunkers rebuilt, put back together and then it rained again another half-inch last night, so it was a tough go for them.” Full clip HERE. Hanse also said he expects Oakmont to return to its treacherous form during the weekend rounds as Thursday’s rain continues to dry out: “We talked this morning a lot about the yeoman’s effort that the maintenance staff put into getting the golf course back, and now I think we’re trying to figure out, ‘When is the evolution going to swing back to the consistency?’ Golf course maintenance is a progression. You’ve got the intensity and the height of cut; I think we’re going to see the greens come back first, then we’ll see the approaches, [then] fairways and then, ultimately, the bunkers. The membership probably doesn’t care if they get the rough mown anytime soon, and one feature that we haven’t seen come into play yet is the entry side – the fairway side, of all of these fairway bunkers. That is tightly mown, and it has just been too wet for the balls to release and get into those bunkers.”
