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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

“Dog sh*t”, and “biggest f**k you,” are the terms that golf fans have used for the poor coverage of golf tournaments. Whether in Italy or America, the golf world has been facing the difficulty of enjoying the golf weekends peacefully, as their only woe, commercial break pops up every time.

But no more! At least for one event, the inaugural event of the 2024 PGA Tour schedule is kicking off with The Sentry, and on the final day of the tourney, there might be no commercials. It seems that Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour have taken the criticism in for the better.

Good news for golf viewers 

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The most recent backlash that the PGA Tour experienced for the coverage was when Tiger Woods made his return after 7 months of hiatus at the Hero World Challenge. The fans were upset as the commercial break frequently broke the rhythm of the game or the broadcaster was only focused on Woods.

The golf world poured out their frustrations on X (formerly Twitter) and shared tweet after tweet on the poor coverage by NBC. One fan called the commercial “out of hand” while others bashed the channel and requested “actual golf content.” Now after a month, the Jay Monahan lead PGA Tour has heard the fans’ demands.

A tweet shared by Josh Carpenter from Sports Business Journal reported that not only there will be fewer commercial breaks, but for the Sunday round of Sentry 2024 around 7 p.m. on the Golf Channel, there will be no breaks at all! As per Carpenter, this was all possible because Callaway, as it is the presenting partner, chose not to broadcast commercials and only present pure golf.

The ad-free golf would definitely hype up the golf world in watching the Sentry more and may increase the viewership of the final day. But this request has been finally accepted after days of grievances were shared by the golf world on SNS.

The unending struggle when watching golf

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Through the 2022-23 season, there were various instances of commercial breaks becoming a hindrance for golf enthusiasts. Before the Hero World Challenge, the golf world complained about the unsatisfactory coverage of the Ryder Cup. The golf internet was frustrated at missing crucial shots as the commercial break was abrupt.

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The Fore Play podcast also remarked on X that two commercials were shown in between one shot while pro golfer Micheal S. Kim found the Ryder Cup coverage “annoying.” This was not the sole instance of poor broadcast. At the 2023 U.S. Open as well, there were plenty of negative remarks.

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Golfweek’s Jason Lusk said that in the first 12 minutes and 45 seconds, there were 15 ads shown, whereas only 11 shots taken were captured. In a similar instance, another major coverage was bashed and the fans were left frustrated. With the new trend started by Callaway and the PGA Tour, the fans might hope for better coverage in the 2024 season.

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