Wayne Riley
There’s a lot more that goes into my job than you might think, but I’m part of a great team and, let’s face it, it’s not the worst gig to have...
On his tournament routine
’ve been working for Sky for a number of years now, and we have commentators from all over the place and all walks of life. Sitting in Dubai in early February after the Dubai Desert Classic – won, of course, by newly crowned Masters Champion Danny Willett, and what a display that was by the way – Rich Beem was off to Austin, Texas, Richard Boxall London, David Livingstone Glasgow, Andrew Coltart Edinburgh and myself Sydney, Australia. It made us chuckle that we were all travelling in different directions, and that we had a team assembled from all corners of the globe.
I think that’s one of the main reasons why this is a successful unit. Not one of us is the same, and if we were to try to copy or emulate others, it just wouldn’t work, and the bosses would be all over it. They would demand the microphones back and we’d be asked to hit the road Jack!
You may ask how I became an on-course commentator? Well, I knew I had something to say and offer, and that I could choose to do two things: do both on course and in the box, or focus on just the on-course stuff. That’s what I’ve done. It’s a job that entails more than any wannabe broken down ex-professional aspiring commentator thinks! There are three voices in our ears all day, every day, even when we are speaking live on air. At any one time, you can have an assistant producer and a producer talking to you, as well as the guy who fades my microphone up as it’s not live the whole time.
At the start and end of the show it’s particularly tricky, as we’ll actually have a countdown from ten to one in our ears! At the end, when I’m at the Sky Cart with Rob, Sarah, Tim or Nick, there’s a count for when we have to stop talking, and a count for when the producer has to stop talking. Let me tell you, they talk right down to the last beat. It’s really quite incredible. You have to know when to shut up and when to talk. It’s definitely an art. It takes a certain individual to be able to handle that. I’ve heard voices all my life so I fit right in!
It’s more about timings at the start and finish, but you also have people in your ears pushing you in a certain direction. When I’m doing an interview, for example, and I’ve left something out, I’ll have a producer in my ear pointing me towards a certain topic. This doesn’t happen all the time, far
Ifrom it, but there’s always someone on the other end of the microphone. It does take some getting used to! I don’t have any input into which group I follow when I’m out on the course. It’s just who our producers think will be the best bet. Tuesday is our first day of work. This is when we do player interviews, what’s in the bags and special pieces, like looking at the Bear Trap at the Honda Classic. I really do enjoy doing these pieces the producers come up with each week. It’s a lot of fun. And that’s a good thing, because I have to do exactly what they want!
Another thing I’m often asked is whether we all get on, and the answer is yes. If one of us gets out of hand a firm slap isn’t far away, but that doesn’t happen very often! We are straight back after work to our digs, and we’ll all have a swift half together and tell a few yarns. Then, some of us will stay and some of us will go our own way. I always make sure I stay in three nights a week. That’s my rule, and I almost always stick to it! No, but seriously, we’re just a bunch of normal mates. It’s good fun. We’re all in different places and we all have different roles during the day. We all drive in together, but then we go our separate ways, so it’s nice to meet up back at the hotel. In a typical week, Wentworth, for example, we’ll have about 20 people from Sky on the ground. Then there’s everyone from European Tour productions, who we buy the pictures from, including cameramen, roadies and those driving the television trucks and cables from country to country. I’d say roughly a hundred people. It’s a serious operation. When we arrive on Tuesday, it’s all set up and off we go. It’s like a massive roving circus.
The USA is a big part of my schedule nowadays, although I’m back in Europe for an exciting summer of golf, which I love doing. This includes, of course, The Open Championship, which is on Sky for the first time this year. I can’t wait. It’s going to be a massive challenge, but I think you’ll all find we get it right.
So that’s a little insight into our golf team, and please never be afraid to say g’day if you see me on the fairways!
“Broadcasting live golf is a serious operation. When we arrive on Tuesday, it’s all set up and off we go. It’s like a massive roving circus”
Wayne Riley is a former member of the European Tour and two-time winner who is now part of the Sky Sports Golf Team. Wayne writes exclusively for Golf Monthly