An Hour of TV Golf Coverage Taken Away, Then Given Back

Sunday was a long day for NBC, a very long day. And, for a while, it was a frustrating one for golf fans.

NBC tried to squeeze two NBA games and a golf tournament into 6 1/2-hour time block.

It didn’t work.

Golf fans were deprived of a little more than an hour of Bob Hope Chrysler Classic final-round coverage, although they got a bonus hour when the tournament went into a five-way playoff.

NBC’s first NBA game, Chicago at Detroit, ran long because of the number of fouls and timeouts down the stretch of the Bulls’ 87-85 victory. The second game, Portland at Phoenix, was long to begin with, then went into overtime.

Adding to NBC’s woes was a three-minute blackout at the end of regulation time of the Portland-Phoenix game. An NBC spokesman said there was a problem with the satellite uplink at the site. But only 12 seconds of playing time was missed. A shot by Phoenix’s Jeff Hornacek was blocked, and that was shown on tape.

Shortly before the end of the Suns’ 132-128 victory, NBC teased viewers by showing John Cook’s shot going into the water at the 18th hole.

NBC got a break when Portland’s Clyde Drexler, maneuvering for a shot that could have sent the game into double overtime, was called for traveling.

But before going to the golf, NBC added to viewers’ frustration by showing an airline promotional spot, a “Heat of the Night” promo, three successive commercials and a local promo.

Then, making matters worse, NBC had to get in several commercials that were missed earlier. For a while, it seemed there was more time devoted to commercials than golf.

But by the time the playoff started, things smoothed out, and viewers were treated to some exciting golf. It ended shortly before 4:30 p.m., an hour later than scheduled.