''Golf on USA'' is the umbrella title for

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...

's coverage of the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

and other

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

events. in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

's own coverage of the PGA Tour ended after the 2006 season. USA also covered the early rounds of

The Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

from 1982 until 2007. The network also carried the Ryder Cup Matches in some form from 1989 until 2010, except for the 2008 event. Beginning in 2022, USA returned to golf coverage, airing

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's early round coverage of

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

, U.S. Open, and their women's counterparts, replacing

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

Coverage overview

USA was also, separately, the cable home of the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

from

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

. 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

, which was also produced by the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

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 Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

replay. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, USA expanded the Thursday/Friday coverage to 2.5 hours each day. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, both CBS and USA televised the Masters commercial-free. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, USA increased the Thursday/Friday coverage to 3 hours.

Other events covered by USA

The Shark Shootout The QBE Shootout is a team golf event that takes place on the PGA Tour as an unofficial money event. It was originally played during the off-season, but now it is played during the wrap-around season's December break. The event began in 1989, as t ...

, which began in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

as the RMCC Invitational, was originally broadcast in the

by the

and

, 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 The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small ...

. In

, the event was moved to December, and was broadcast live by both

and

. * Bob Hope Chrysler Classic - From 2003 to 2006, USA Network covered the early action. Prior to 2007, USA and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

/ ABC consistently covered all four courses used for the event, with the primary camera crew covering PGA West, but live coverage still emanating from the other courses. However, when

took over coverage, the network only assigned live coverage to PGA West (both the Palmer and Nicklaus courses). All other courses used did not receive live coverage at all, with an hourly highlights package sent in and played, but none of it live. This has been the approach consistently taken by Golf Channel in regards to tournaments with multiple courses, including the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Walt Disney World Golf Classic. However, since NBC has taken over the production of PGA Tour events on Golf Channel, coverage of all courses on multi-course events has returned. *

Buick Invitational Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

FBR Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament was originally the Arizona ...

* AT&T Pebble Beach Nat'l Pro-Am *

Nissan Open The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...

Chrysler Classic of Tucson The Tucson Open was a golf tournament in Arizona on the PGA Tour from 1945 to 2006, played annually in the winter in Tucson. It was last held at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort in late February, with a $3 million purse and a $540,000 winn ...

Ford Championship at Doral The Doral Open was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the southeastern United States. It was played annually for 45 seasons, from 1962 to 2006, on the "Blue Monster" course at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Doral, Florida, a subur ...

Honda Classic The Honda Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in south Florida. It was founded in 1972 as Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic, and prior to a schedule change in 2021 was frequently the first of the Florida events in late winte ...

* Bay Hill Invitational presented by MasterCard *

BellSouth Classic The Atlanta Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, a regular stop in suburban Atlanta for over four decades. It was founded in 1967, although previous events dating to 1934 are included in the PGA Tour's past winners list. AT&T was the last ...

Verizon Heritage The RBC Heritage, known for much of its history as the Heritage Classic or simply the Heritage, is a PGA Tour event in South Carolina, first played in 1969. It is currently played in mid-April, the week after The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Th ...

Shell Houston Open The Cadence Bank Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in November. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, th ...

Zurich Classic of New Orleans The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is a professional golf tournament in Louisiana on the PGA Tour, currently held at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, a suburb southwest of New Orleans. Beginning in 1938 and held annually since 1958, it is commonly play ...

* Wachovia Championship *

EDS Byron Nelson Championship The AT&T Byron Nelson is a golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, currently hosted by TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, northeast of Dallas. Held in May, it is one of two PGA Tour stops in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex – which until the 2 ...

* Bank of America Colonial * Senior PGA Championship * FedEx St. Jude Classic * Barclays Classic * Booz Allen Classic *

Buick Championship Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General M ...

* Cialis Western Open * Ford Senior Players Championship *

John Deere Classic The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament be ...

* B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone Resort *

U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee The Greater Milwaukee Open was a regular golf tournament in Wisconsin on the PGA Tour. For 42 years, it was played annually in the Milwaukee area, the final sixteen editions in the north suburb of Brown Deer at the Brown Deer Park Golf Course. ...

Buick Open The Buick Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament from 1958 to 2009. In 2007, the tournament was held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Regardless, many prominent players ...

* The INTERNATIONAL *

Deutsche Bank Championship The Dell Technologies Championship was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Norton, Massachusetts, United States, held annually in late summer over the Labor Day weekend. The 2018 edition was the last time the event was staged as th ...

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

* Chrysler Classic of Greensboro * Fry's.com Open * Chrysler Championship * Merrill Lynch Shootout *

Target World Challenge The Hero World Challenge is a golf tournament hosted by Tiger Woods, which takes place each December. It features a small number (currently 20) of top-ranked golf pros. The tournament is a benefit for the Tiger Woods Foundation. The event is part ...

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's Friday Ryder Cup coverage through 2012 to ESPN for the rights to sign

Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on n ...

. 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 NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its ...

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. Four months later, NBC merged with

, making Golf Channel NBC's primary cable outlet for golf.

Return

In November 2021, it was announced that early-round coverage of the Open Championship, U.S. Open, and their women's counterparts, would move to USA Network beginning in 2022.

Commentators

Phil Blackmar } Philip Arnold Blackmar (born September 22, 1957) is an American professional golfer. He played on the PGA Tour from 1985 to 2000 and on the Champions Tour from 2007 to 2012. He was the tallest player on the PGA Tour during his time on tour, stan ...

* Bob Carpenter - Carpenter anchored USA's coverage of the Masters beginning in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

. * Fran Charles - From

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, Charles was the host of the weekly golf show, ''PGA Tour Sunday'' on USA Network, serving as lead anchor for studio segments during PGA Tour events. * John Cook *

Jim Gallagher Jr. James Thomas Gallagher Jr. (born March 24, 1961) is an American professional golfer and sportscaster. Early life Gallagher was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His father, a career club pro, started him in golf at age six. His sister, Jackie, ...

Mike Hulbert Michael Patrick Hulbert (born April 14, 1958) is an American professional golfer and sportscaster. Hulbert was born in Elmira, New York. He grew up in Horseheads, New York, and was a childhood friend and high school golf rival of fellow PGA Tour ...

- During the 2003

, he interviewed eventual champion

Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 200 ...

from what appeared to be a snack bar during a rain delay while covering the early rounds on USA Network. Other players (who were not visible, nor identified) were in the room at the time of Furyk's interview and proceeded to throw popcorn at them from off camera as the interview progressed. At one point Furyk even held up a golf towel to block the popcorn as it got worse, and he stated that: "It looks like it's pick on Hubby day!" *

Peter Kostis Peter Kostis (born December 23, 1947 in Sanford, Maine) is an American golf analyst and instructor. Among his many students are Paul Casey, Chez Reavie, Bernhard Langer, Steve Elkington, Dan Marino, Maury Povich, and Mike Schmidt. He has the Pe ...

- In addition to his

duties, he was from

, the lead golf analyst for the USA Network. * Bill Macatee - Beginning 1990, he anchored coverage of the PGA Tour on the USA Network. *

Gary McCord Gary Dennis McCord (born May 23, 1948) is an American professional golfer, commentator and author. Early life and career McCord was born in San Gabriel, California, and raised in southern California, graduating from Ramona High School in Riversi ...

Jennifer Mills Jennifer Mills (born 1977) is an Australian novelist, short story writer and poet. Career Mills lived in Alice Springs. She was the winner of the 2008 Marian Eldridge Award for Young Emerging Women Writers, the Pacific Region of the 2008-9 Comm ...

* Bill Patrick - He worked for USA from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

through

as host of the U.S. Open tennis and

. He also did play-by-play and reporting for USA's PGA Tour coverage. *

Larry Rinker Larry Rinker (born July 20, 1957) is an American professional golfer. Rinker was born in Stuart, Florida. He played college golf at the University of Florida and turned professional in 1979. Rinker initially played on mini-tours before joining ...

Ted Robinson Ted Robinson may refer to: *Ted Robinson (golf course architect) (1923–2008), American golf course architect *Ted Robinson (sportscaster) (born 1957), American sportscaster *Ted Robinson (TV director) Ted Robinson (born 1944) is an Australian ...

*Tim Rosaforte *

Patty Sheehan Patty Sheehan (born October 27, 1956) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1980 and won six major championships and 35 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sheehan also ...

* Jim Simpson - Simpson was the lead play-by-play man for USA's coverage of the

1989 Ryder Cup The 28th Ryder Cup Matches were held 22–24 September 1989 at The Belfry in Wishaw, Warwickshire, England, near Sutton Coldfield. For only the second time, the competition ended in a draw at 14 points each, but the European team retained the ...

(working alongside

and Ben Wright among others). *Stina Sternberg *

Chris Wragge Christian P. Wragge ( ; born June 19, 1970) is an American news anchor. He is the co-anchor for New York's CBS2's ''News This Morning'' and CBS2's ''News at Noon'', alongside Mary Calvi. He was previously on WCBS's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. ...

- In December 2000, while still with

and Houston's KPRC, Wragge joined USA Sports as the on-site correspondent for ''PGA Tour Sunday'', the PGA Tour's leading broadcast partner. *Ben Wright

References

External links

PGA TOUR GOLF – USA Network
(archived 30 February 2010) {{s-end 1990s American television series 2000s American television series USA Network Sports

USA Network original programming 1982 American television series debuts 2010 American television series endings American sports television series