Major Coverage for Major Tournament

CBS and TNT are just getting started with their coverage of the PGA Championship. They’ve got 22 more hours to go, and 28 cameras are being used.

No other golf tournament has ever gotten this kind of coverage.

So how did host Jim Nantz put it all in perspective?

“I would just like to say that it is a little anti-climactic after the Tiger Woods-David Duval showdown,” he said on a conference call from Medinah, Ill. “There’s not a whole lot at stake here.”

Later, Nantz said what was obvious, that he was being flippant about the recent exhibition match-play, made-for-TV event at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

“I thought the event got totally misrepresented by a lot of people in the media,” he said. “I’m not just talking about the written press. I’m talking about all media.

“It was one of those topics that everybody in the world thought they were qualified to make a judgment or have an opinion. Really, it was nothing more than two of the top-ranked players in the world going out and playing a round of golf.

“I watched it and enjoyed it. I thought it was a great idea. I wish we would have done it.”

Nantz also has an opinion about the Ryder Cup situation, in which U.S. players are seeking control of some of the event’s $19-million gross.

“The players just want a chance to make a charitable donation,” he said. “I think this has put pressure on the PGA of America, which runs the Ryder Cup, to match this concept.”

Nantz said he sees the situation being resolved soon.

Analyst David Feherty, also on the conference call, talked about the Medinah course.

“It’s an enormously long course, but it really favors good drivers of the ball,” he said. “You need to be able to put the ball in the right place to hit these greens. You get in a position here and you have some very big furniture between you and the fireplace.”

Producer Lance Barrow said of covering the PGA: “Unlike other sports we are on the air for the entire time. There are no halftimes or timeouts.

“In this sport, we are on the air until we go off the air, no matter what time it is. It includes our people in the truck, our announcers, but more importantly our technical people who are running up and down the course with cameras on their backs. They don’t ever get a break.”

Said Nantz: “There are scenarios in golf you don’t have to deal with in other sports. You have more than 100 golfers on 100 acres, all firing at the same time and at different times.

“There are a lot of different stories spread out all over the place, and the coordination to determine how you get one shot on the air with a corresponding graphic and corresponding commentary.”

WRIGHT OR WRONG

On May 11, 1995, longtime CBS golf analyst Ben Wright, in an interview with Valerie Helmbreck of the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal, said that the number of lesbians in women’s golf hurt sponsorships and that breasts hinder the swings of women golfers.

Wright at first denied making the comments, and CBS backed him and even gave him a new four-year contract. But Sports Illustrated later came up with proof that Wright had indeed made the comments. He said CBS told him to lie, and also claimed that the comments were “off the record.”

Wright has made his peace with Helmbreck via a phone call in 1998, and now he has written a book, “Good Bounces and Bad Lies.” In it he rehashes the whole mess. He also tells of drinking and sexual escapades he and his CBS colleagues took part in over the years.

That hasn’t endeared him to his former employer.

Said CBS spokeswoman LeslieAnne Wade: “There are too many exaggerations and inaccurate descriptions in Ben Wright’s book to comment specifically. His version of the truth is more distorted today that it was in 1995.”

CLAUDIA TREJOS UPDATE

News of Channel 5 weekend sports anchor Claudia Trejos and her struggles with the English language have reached the East Coast. The New York Times wrote about her this week.

The newspaper quoted news director Jeff Wald, the man who hired Trejos, as saying, “There were tons of tapes, and every tape I saw, it was almost like a cookie cutter. Everyone looked the same, sounded the same.

“We decided, even though she did not have a great deal, if any, English-language experience as an anchor on television, that her personality, her knowledge and her love for sports were certainly there.”

Of criticism she has received in this space and elsewhere, Wald said, “There may be a bias. Let’s call it that, No. 1 against a woman doing sports, and secondarily, a Latina doing sports.

“And that’s, I think, where this conflict seems to be.”

You wonder if Wald has noticed that her skills are so raw that she has to tape much of her commentary on highlights, while other sportscasters do it live.

Trejos is being criticized because she has been put in a job she’s not qualified to do. It’s not her fault. She’s trying.

SHORT WAVES

CBS also begins its NFL exhibition coverage on Saturday at 5 p.m. with the New York Jets at Green Bay. . . . Los Angeles teams are providing plenty of fodder for Jay Leno. Wednesday night, in a bit about products for losers, Leno presented a “Losers Entertainment Package” that included Dodger, Angel and Clipper season tickets. He also showed off a “Dodger glove” that had a rear-view mirror “so you can see where the ball went” as it sailed by.

Recommended viewing: Kevin Malone’s appearance on ESPN’s “Up Close” Monday at 3 p.m. . . . Tom Lasorda will be the guest on the new Saturday night talk show on KRLA (1110) with Fred Wallin and Peter Vent. This weekend the show will be on after Galaxy soccer, about 9:30. Lasorda is scheduled for the 10-11 hour, and Johnny Ortiz will file a report on Oscar De La Hoya during the show’s final half-hour, 11:30-midnight. Ortiz interviewed De La Hoya at his training camp, where he is preparing for his fight against Felix Trinidad on Sept. 18 in Las Vegas.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Aug. 7-8, including sports on cable networks:

SATURDAY

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Over the air Channel Rating Share Football: NFL exhibition, San Diego-Denver 11 4.2 9 Auto racing: NASCAR Brickyard 400 7 3.5 12 Football, NFL exhibition, Oakland-St. Louis 2 3.5 8 Baseball: Dodgers at New York Mets 5 2.9 7 Auto racing: International Race of Champions 7 2.8 9 Golf: Buick Open 2 2.2 7 Baseball: Boston at Angels 11 1.9 6 Harness racing: The Hambletonian 2 1.6 5 Pan-American Games 34 1.4 4 Basketball: WNBA, Washington at Cleveland 4 0.9 3

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Cable Network Rating Golf: Senior Lightpath Long Island Classic ESPN 0.9 Drag racing: NHRA Autolight Nationals qualifying ESPN2 0.8 Tennis: Men, du Maurier Open, second semifinal ESPN 0.6 Auto racing: CART Grand Prix of Detroit qualifying ESPN2 0.5 Tennis: Men, du Maurier Open, first semifinal ESPN 0.5 Tennis: Women, TIG Classic, first semifinal FSW 0.5 Tennis: Women, TIG Classic, second semifinal FSW 0.4 Soccer: MLS, Galaxy at San Jose FSW 0.4 Soccer: MLS, New York/New Jersey at Miami ESPN 0.3 Football: Hall of Fame inductions ESPN2 0.2

Cable Share Golf: Senior Lightpath Long Island Classic 3 Drag racing: NHRA Autolight Nationals qualifying 2 Tennis: Men, du Maurier Open, second semifinal 2 Auto racing: CART Grand Prix of Detroit qualifying 2 Tennis: Men, du Maurier Open, first semifinal 2 Tennis: Women, TIG Classic, first semifinal 2 Tennis: Women, TIG Classic, second semifinal 1 Soccer: MLS, Galaxy at San Jose 1 Soccer: MLS, New York/New Jersey at Miami 1 Football: Hall of Fame inductions 1

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SUNDAY *--*

Over the air Channel Rating Share Baseball: Dodgers at New York Mets 5 4.3 13 Golf: Buick Open 2 3.2 9 Tennis: Women, TIG Classic, final 11 2.5 7 Pan-American Games, closing ceremony 34 2.9 5 Soccer: MLS, Colorado at Chicago 34 1.6 5 Basketball: WNBA, Houston at New York 4 1.5 4 Soccer: MLS, Tampa Bay at Washington 7 1.3 4

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Cable Network Rating Drag racing: NHRA Autolight Nationals, first round ESPN2 1.8 Baseball: Houston at Chicago Cubs ESPN 1.4 Drag racing: NHRA Autolight Nationals, final round ESPN2 0.9 Golf: Senior Lightpath Long Island Classic ESPN2 0.8 Horse racing: Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park ESPN2 0.8 Soccer: MLS, Kansas City at Columbus ESPN2 0.8 Tennis: Men, du Maurier Open, final ESPN 0.7 Baseball: San Francisco at Atlanta TBS 0.4

Cable Share Drag racing: NHRA Autolight Nationals, first round 5 Baseball: Houston at Chicago Cubs 3 Drag racing: NHRA Autolight Nationals, final round 2 Golf: Senior Lightpath Long Island Classic 2 Horse racing: Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park 2 Soccer: MLS, Kansas City at Columbus 2 Tennis: Men, du Maurier Open, final 2 Baseball: San Francisco at Atlanta 1

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: Monday--Football, Hall of Fame game, Dallas-Cleveland, Channel 7, 8.5/16; Baseball, Dodgers at New York Mets, Channel 5, 4.0/8.

Note: Each rating point represents 51,350 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.