Life without Tiger

What was supposed to be a strong field this week was dealt a sudden and terrible blow when Tiger pulled out of the remainder of 2008 following multiple knee surgeries. The Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan has always been a stronger field even, however, this year it is suffering without the likes of Tiger and Vijay. The only strong benefit to this week was the fact that we're a mere 45 minutes away from Oakland Hills CC, the site of this year's PGA Championship. This made it easier for us to spend the early part of the week there shooting the course prior to the madness of corporate tents and grandstands. It's been fun so far and in a month and a half we'll back, for a much more major event. But for now it was prep work and long days of shooting.

Back in the northeast...

Well, it's back to the grind. A week away in Hawaii on vacation and its back at it. Flew home only to land and go straight to work. Luckily we're close to home, well my second home that is. The Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT, just down the road from where I went to college. The TPC River Highlands is a beautiful course and really a fun one to both watch and play. After some time off and watching the US Open at a distance, I'm happy to say, a little time off every now and then is a good thing. However, it's never fun to fly home to some bad news regarding Tiger and his compounding knee injury which will hurt us ratings-wise. More people tend to watch when he's in the field.

Walking in Memphis

The home of Graceland and for one week a year, the home of the Stanford St. Jude Championship. A tune-up week for many before they move on to the US Open next week. What is a surprisingly decent field for this otherwise mediocre stop on Tour promises to be a halfway decent tournament. That is if the 90+ degree temperatures and the incredibly high humidity doesn't deter many. The big benefit for us is a week off next week as NBC broadcasts the US Open. Coming off of last week's Memorial Tournament, we could use a low-key week. It was a great tournament with extended broadcast hours. Saturday, due to an unforeseen rain-delay, we were on the air for a total of almost 8 1/2 hours. Now that is a long day. Luckily it was only 6 hours on the air on Sunday. Not your typical week, but it really drains on you.