A lot has changed in coverage of the Masters in 10 years.
In 1998, when Mark O'Meara won the green jacket, the front nine was rarely shown and television coverage was limited to 10.5 hours.
This year, TV coverage has ballooned to 14 hours, and ESPN made its debut at famed Augusta National Golf Club, covering the par 3 tournament for the first time along with the tourney's first two rounds.
Internet coverage also has grown rapidly. Just as basketball fans swamped www.NCAAsports.com for coverage of the NCAA Tournament, golf fans can view the tournament on www.masters.org.
"Masters Extra” provides one hour of streaming video before TV coverage begins. Streaming video, which has provided coverage of Amen Corner — par-4 11th, par-3 12th and par-5 13th — in the past has been expanded to include the par-5 15th and par-3 16th.
"What we have done in the last eight to 10 years is researched and become aware that our fans and sports fans in general have a dramatically changed appetite for the way they want information delivered,” Masters chairman Billy Payne told the Associated Press. "This is a beginning. We'll see where it takes us.”
Masters officials realize that the extensive coverage helps boost tournament interest, which in turn produces more revenue. ESPN's coverage will give the tournament more international coverage, reaching almost 200 countries.
"They have a great international reach,” Payne said. "And I think we're going to see a larger weekday audience.”
Tournament officials apparently are becoming more media friendly. This is the tournament that once banned CBS analyst Jack Whitaker for describing the gallery as a "mob scene” and later banned former CBS commentator Gary McCord for saying the greens are so fast they must "bikini wax” them. But ESPN didn't send quick-witted Kenny Mayne to Augusta, instead relying on Mike Tirico to work mainly with CBS' golf crew.
Coverage of the par 3 tournament provided viewers with an intimate look at the players and their families.
"It was neat for them to see players can have fun out here,” said Justin Leonard. "We're real people with real families and it was great to show that on TV and in person.”
