HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA | It was attention-grabbing last week when the Masters telecast featured Rory McIlroy, Max Homa and Justin Thomas as they took turns talking to the television audience while competing at Augusta National, which continues to show its embrace of modern technology.
The popular new enhancement was drawn into even sharper focus on Saturday when Thomas put the earpiece in, talked his way through the 14th hole, then bogeyed three of his last four holes to miss the cut by one stroke.
Skeptics quickly pointed to the intrusion as a reason why Thomas flamed out.
Not so, said Thomas, who has come around to the idea of on-course interviews after saying three years ago that he wouldn’t participate.
“I thought it was totally fine. I said to someone that I liked it, given the circumstances and where I was, because it almost gave me a little bit of reset. It felt like a good opportunity for me to be positive and talk through things a little more,” Thomas said after his first round here at the RBC Heritage.
Since the moment Homa debuted the feature on the par-5 13th hole at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open – a tournament he went on to win – it has been a hit with viewers, leading CBS executives to build it into every Saturday telecast.
“I felt like it wasn’t a big burden on anything I was doing.”
The walk-and-talk sessions on CBS Sports’ weekend coverage have become a popular part of the network’s refreshed PGA Tour coverage.
Since the moment Homa debuted the feature on the par-5 13th hole at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open – a tournament he went on to win – it has been a hit with viewers, leading CBS executives to build it into every Saturday telecast.
“We have made it a box we have to check every week. It’s that popular. The pros have become comfortable with the opportunity. It’s now part of our to-do list week in and week out,” said Sellers Shy, the lead producer for CBS Sports’ golf coverage.
It’s not for every player.
“I’m not doing it,” Xander Schauffele said. “I think it’s really good for the guys who want to do it. It’s got really good feedback, and I think it’s good insight into what we do.
“I just don’t think I can get myself to do it. It’s just distracting to me personally.”
Though there have been other attempts through the years to talk with players during tournament play, this is the first time it has been as easy and interactive as it is.
Shy said it stemmed from seeing Major League Baseball players being mic’d during games last year, taking a few minutes to talk with the announcers about how the game was going.
Along with Jon Freedman, the PGA Tour’s vice president for broadcasting production, Shy and others put together a plan to use new technology to make it easier for players.
That doesn’t mean making it happen is easy.
It’s a process that begins early in tournament week and often isn’t fully in place until late Friday when television officials, working with tour officials, determine which player they want to participate. Players are free to say no, but Shy and his group have a good sense of who will say yes.
“We’re not asking them to put double earphone headsets that come over the top (of their heads). It’s very unobtrusive. (He) puts it in his ear. He can take it out. Max hit with it in his ear. A couple have taken it out, then put it back in.” – Sellers Shy
“We’ve all identified some of these players that are creative and do have open personalities,” Shy said.
“The other key is while 20 years ago there weren’t such things as AirPods in your ears while you’re hitting on the range, it’s nothing new. It’s normal to them. Many of them wear AirPods when they’re hitting balls at home.”
Still, there’s more to it than just handing a player an earpiece and asking him to talk with analyst Trevor Immelman.
Early in the week, a hole is identified for use and up to five antennae are placed discreetly around that hole to handle the various signals. An audio assistant carries a cellphone-sized relay in his pocket to ensure that the sound works, and he talks near the player.
In most cases, a cameraman is there, too, sometimes circling the player as he goes about his business. There are also cameras on drones and mounted behind greens that can be used, depending on the situation.
All of it is then fed to the production truck, where everything is synced together.
Then it’s usually Immelman who talks with the player (Keith Mitchell and Collin Morikawa have participated), sticking to the task at hand.
“You put Trevor Immelman on the other side of the line, and he is able to ask specific questions to the player; from a player at his level, you get the substance you have wanted for a long time. The key was having someone on the other side,” Shy said.
The most familiar part of it – the AirPod – may be the reason it has worked.
“We’re not asking them to put double earphone headsets that come over the top (of their heads). It’s very unobtrusive. (He) puts it in his ear. He can take it out. Max hit with it in his ear. A couple have taken it out, then put it back in,” Shy said.
Ultimately, the players have the final say.
Asked at the Masters whether he would have reconsidered being part of the walk-and-talk had he not birdied the eighth hole moments earlier, McIlroy said, “I’m temperamental. I’m not that temperamental.”
Thomas expects to do it again but knows he can change his mind if he’s not comfortable doing it.
“At the end of the day, if I say I want to do it and get out there and I don’t, I just don’t do it. It’s not like it’s a requirement – here sign this contract, you’re doing it for X amount of holes,” Thomas said.
In a year of change on the PGA Tour, simple conversations have been one of the most dynamic changes.