Network USA Network | ||
Awards Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Editing Nominations Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Feature Similar Love Me - Love Me Not, Cannonball Run 2001, Free 4 All, Underfunded, Touching Evil | ||
PGA Tour on USA was the umbrella title for USA Network's coverage of the PGA Tour in the United States, which ended after the 2006 season. USA also covered the early rounds of The Masters Tournament from 1982 until 2007. The network also carried the Ryder Cup Matches in some form from 1989 until 2010, except for the 2008 event.
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Coverage overview
USA was also, separately, the cable home of the Masters Tournament from 1982 to 2007. USA's sister network, Universal HD, broadcast The Masters in high-definition (one of the first golf tournaments to ever hold that distinction).
The Masters Tournament
The USA Network began first and second round Masters coverage in 1982, which was also produced by the CBS production team. This was the first ever cable coverage for one of the golf majors. Initially, the USA Network provided Thursday and Friday coverage for 2 hours live each day along with a prime time replay. In 1995, USA expanded the Thursday/Friday coverage to 2.5 hours each day. In 2003 and 2004, both CBS and USA televised the Masters commercial-free. In 2005, USA increased the Thursday/Friday coverage to 3 hours.
Other events covered by USA
The Shark Shootout, which began in 1989 as the RMCC Invitational, was originally broadcast in the United States by the USA Network and CBS, with USA broadcasting the first round on a tape-delayed basis, and CBS handling the second round live. Not all the country saw the final round live, as CBS' commitment to the NFL only allowed part of the country to see the round as it takes place, with the rest of the U.S. seeing the event beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. In 2007, the event was moved to December, and was broadcast live by both Golf Channel and NBC.
The end of USA's coverage
In early 2006, it was announced that USA was outbid by Golf Channel for its early-round PGA Tour rights, with USA's final season being 2006. NBC/Universal, parent company of USA Network, traded away the network'sFriday Ryder Cup coverage through 2012 to ESPN for the rights to sign Al Michaels. However, USA did renew its Masters contract for an additional year. USA would televise the 2007 Masters before being outbid by ESPN for future coverage. The 2007 Masters was also the final event for USA Sports, which was dissolved into parent NBC Sports after the tournament. All future sports telecasts on USA would use NBC's graphics and personalities.
The Ryder Cup contract, which stipulated cable coverage air on USA, was still controlled by NBC even after it granted ESPN the rights to Friday cable coverage (normally the only day of the event covered on cable). However, in 2010, rain on Friday pushed the singles matches to Monday, necessitating that they air on cable. With NBC having granted only Friday rights to ESPN, the singles matches aired on USA, which would be the final golf telecast for the network. Four months later, NBC merged with Golf Channel, making that network NBC's primary cable outlet for golf.