Anger as BBC fail to show first six hours

THE BBC was again forced to defend its coverage of The Open yesterday amid criticism from players and viewers over the decision to delay broadcasting the final round until 1.45pm. Severe weather delays at St Andrews over the weekend led to a Monday finish for just the second time in the history of golf’s most prestigious tournament. But the BBC chose to stick with scheduled programmes such as Homes Under the Hammer, Heir Hunters and Bargain Hunt. By the time live coverage on BBC1 started, play had been underway for six hours, and a thrilling morning had seen Luke Donald and Phil Mickelson, among others, make charges up the leaderboard. ‘If you give the viewer the choice, they’d want to see eight, 10 hours of coverage,’ said Donald. ‘You can get someone coming up from behind (to win), so there were definitely some storylines that a lot of guys would have appreciated watching.’ Paul Lawrie made a pointed joke about commentators tending to mix up his name with that of a fellow golfer. ‘I think the BBC have done a wonderful job, they’ve not called me Peter once ... I think,’ said the Scot. Farcically, viewers in the United States could watch The Open, as ESPN had started their coverage, while those in Britain could not. Angry viewers made their feelings clear on Twitter. Shlomo Cohen wrote: ‘The greatest golf tournament in the world plays second fiddle to Bargain Hunt. The world really is laughing at the BBC.’ Mark Hayes tweeted: ‘Shame @BBC, shame. Worst TV coverage in golf.’ The corporation defended their decision in a statement: ‘The BBC has brought unprecedented coverage to the widest possible, free-to-air audience. Our key aim (was) to fully tell the most important story — who will win The Open — and make the very best use of our resources on the extra day’s play.’ But commentator Andrew Cotter appeared to suggest in a tweet that the reason for the BBC’s decision was down to a lack of camera operators. ‘Understand your frustration at coverage being later today, but camera operators among those who simply have other work contracts to fulfil,’ he wrote. The BBC declined to clarify the comment. The corporation’s commitment to golf and live sport has been questioned following the loss of live Open broadcasting rights to Sky Sports from 2017. On Friday, coverage was switched from primetime BBC2 to low-key BBC4 to make way for the first night of The Proms.