With time, our perspective on things, whether on screen or in real life, continues to evolve. However, for golf coverage, broadcasters have made a change in how the sport is presented. Of course, with time moving forward, there have been additions to the broadcast such as shot tracers and graphics. A lot of things have been tried, and some have stuck. Nonetheless, recently, even Rickie Fowler, who is a rather popular personality in golf, couldn’t save a new segment introduced in the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Recently, NBC Sports introduced a new segment on their broadcast – the mid-round interview. The mid-round interview is exactly as it sounds – it is an interview of a golfer while his round is ongoing. At the Sanderson Farms Championship, the segment caught hold of Fowler as he walked from his tee shot to his second on the 13th hole.

Fowler’s shot hadn’t gone exactly as he had planned, reflecting immediately afterward, he said, “I feel like if I hit a good wedge and turned it off the big tree that’s behind the green there, I feel I could fly it 45, no problem. I hit it well but the turn part wasn’t there so it wasn’t that far off our number, just held up in the wind, sorry, breeze a bit so I just though it was the right club, just poor execution.”

Fowler was also asked about coming to play in the tournament after a long break after the British Open, asking about shaking off some rust. He then explained his slow start, saying it was shaky, and that he wasn’t swinging it well. He also expressed disappointment over hitting two balls in the water. Fowler then mentioned that he was getting back into the swing of things and was enjoying the golf course, which is a more old-school type of course at the Country Club of Jackson.

Fans were left a lot more puzzled by the segment than one would expect. Many expressed frustrations with the unchanging format of golf coverage but did not think that mid-round interviews were the way forward.

Fans left divided over new mid-round interviews

“This initiative couldn’t be more embarrassing”. One commenter wrote, without explaining what he found to be embarrassing about it. It may have been embarrassing for Rickie Fowler as he had to go on air right after a bad shot and explain himself, but as a pro golfer, he would be used to the scrutiny of his game. Another commenter wrote, “SMH”.

Another commenter expressed his frustration with the segment saying, “In a typical 60 minute slot the Tour broadcasts actual golf for 30 minutes which is about 60 golf shots. While the interview is sort of cool, as a viewer I’ve just lost another 1:30 of golf and seen 3 less golf shots. What about less fill and more actual golf shots.” This is a valid criticism of the coverage, as what golf fans want to see, and this is true of any sport, is the actual golf being played. The interview consisted of two questions and two lengthy answers. If this was being done at a tense round, the audience would surely miss out on some deciding shots. Another commenter also chimed in, “Do they really think boring swing thoughts are going to improve their miserable product?”

But some people were interested in the segment, as it brought them right onto the course and into the mind of a professional golfer. One commenter said, “I like these.” It was a small bit of positivity in the pond of negative criticism.

Although the mid-play interview has been done in multiple sports to various degrees of success, it would seem a certain portion of golf fans would rather do without it. Maybe the mic’d up segment would be more interesting than the interview, which is somewhat intrusive to the golfer’s game.