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CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said earlier
this week that several players had agreed to wear microphones
during play at Colonial Country Club, but Golf Channel executive
Molly Solomon told the Sports Business Journal on Wednesday that
Fowler was the only one within the television window.
The Golf Channel will exclusively broadcast the first two
rounds, with CBS beginning its coverage on Saturday.
"For now, it's going to be Rickie," Solomon told SBJ.
Fowler wore a mic during a charity event last month in Florida,
where he and partner Matthew Wolff lost on a sudden-death
playoff shot against Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.
The Charles Schwab Challenge will mark the PGA Tour's first
event in 91 days and will be contested without fans in
attendance, so broadcasters are evaluating ways to enhance their
coverage.
"We've been talking to the Tour about it for years," McManus
said Monday on a conference call. "I think there's probably a
greater appreciation for wanting to contemporize golf coverage a
little bit, and I think the players are beginning to realize
that they can play a real role in that and making the product a
little more interesting for the viewer at home."
The European Tour announced last month that players would wear
microphones when action resumes with the British Masters, July
22-25 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
However, the concept of being miked up has hardly been
universally well received.
"I would not wear a mic, no. That's not me," Justin Thomas said
during his pre-tournament conference call. "What I talk about
with (caddie) Jimmy (Johnson) and what I talk about with the
guys in my group is none of anybody else's business, no offense.
"I mean, as close as those mics are on the tees and the greens
and as close as I get to boom mics during competition anyway, I
basically feel like I am miked up. I can't say some stuff that I
usually say anyway, and it is not that it's bad, but no, if I
want somebody to know what I say, I'll say it in a press
conference, I'll say it in an interview or put it out on social
media, whatever it is.
"But I personally am not one that would care to get miked out
there."
Ironically, Thomas will be paired for the first two rounds with
Fowler and Jordan Spieth. Spieth said he is aware that Fowler
will be miked up and that he's "open" to it.
"I think I would kind of want to see how things are going first
personally with it before, and just kind of getting back into
the routine before throwing that on there because it is
something that I don't necessarily see as -- I think if
anything, could be a distraction personally to your play," he
said.
"But I also see what an advantage it could have for the game if
you're able to mike some guys up, especially given there's no
crowd noise, so you get a little extra commentary from the
players."
--Field Level Media
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