U.S. Open 2017 TV schedule and coverage for Saturday's Round 3
FOX is in year three of its golf voyage, and it’s improved to be one of the best in the game.
We’re at the midpoint of the U.S. Open, and for the weekend, all coverage will transition to FOX. The network split the coverage of the first two rounds across FS1 and FOX, moving to the main network for late primetime coverage until 9 p.m. ET. In the morning, it meant we were subjected to FS1’s Undisputed programming as we were waiting for the broadcast to kick in and show us the superstars playing in the first waves. That led to much predictable outcry and angry tweeting.
This is the third year that FOX has the rights to the national championship, and the network seems to be on an upward trajectory. The first year at Chambers Bay was an unqualified mess, and FOX admitted as much in the months afterward. But that disaster was made up of a lot of smaller, correctable problems (aside from the big one of the lead analyst, Greg Norman, being bad and seeming uninterested in trying to get better). Those got fixed for year two at Oakmont, which was also a much more traditional U.S. Open venue to broadcast from and cover compared to Chambers.
FOX is loaded with TV veterans, so the network was always going to get it right, and this year at Erin Hills has gone off without incident. The lead producer, Mark Loomis, has a long background running golf broadcasts. Analysts Paul Azinger and Brad Faxon are among the best in the game, and Azinger has a long history doing the majors in the lead chair, and doing them well. With this being FOX’s one big golf event of the year, we also get all the bells and whistles thrown at and invested in this broadcast. There’s Protracer everywhere — even in the fairway. It’s a good broadcast, and that should continue over the weekend days on FOX.
Here are all your media options for Saturday’s third round:
Saturday's third-round coverage
Television:
11 a.m. to 8 p.m. -- FOX
5 to 8 p.m. -- FOX Deportes
Online streams:
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. — Featured group 1:
Jordan Spieth, Stephan Jaeger
Bernd Wiesberger, Sergio Garcia
11:45 a.m. to 8 p.m. — Featured group 2:
Martin Laird, Patrick Reed
Brandt Snedeker, Hideki Matsuyama
Noon to 7 p.m. — Featured holes stream
Radio:
Noon to 7 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)