Blog: Why the BBC won the Masters coverage battle for me

Last weekend, I, like many others, faced a tough choice: do I watch the Masters coverage on the BBC or Sky?

It was a no-brainer for me, and the BBC won by a landslide.

My decision may have been influenced by the fact I don’t have access to Sky Sports from the comfort of my bedroom, but I genuinely believe the Beeb offered a much better all-round package. And as such it is a real shame they are only showing four more days of live golf this year.

For a start, the lack of tedious, repetitive adverts was a real bonus, as was the flowing coverage, which was almost like a highlights package at some points, unlike Sky’s which was about as slow as Jason Day’s pre-shot routine.

I loved how the BBC filled breaks in play with round recaps from important players, while Sky thought sticking Mark Roe on an oversized iPad to tell us that the 12th is ‘only short but very hard’ was more useful.
I found Ken Brown’s on-course antics incredibly entertaining and insightful, streets ahead of what Sky had to offer. Sticking with the theme of personalities, I thought Sky were outgunned quite comfortably, even with Jack Nicklaus making another cameo.

Colin Montgomerie was his usual self, referring to ‘his Ryder Cup team’ on several occasions and repeating words to fill space, while the loveable and enthusiastic Butch Harmon again forgot how to say hybrid.

Although some find him a little on the dull side, Peter Alliss in his brown aviators ticked all the boxes for me, and his short stints brought a lot of colour and humour to the coverage.

Andrew Cotter was consistent as ever and Wayne Grady’s self deprecating style was also highly amusing.

As always, I found Ken Brown’s on-course antics incredibly entertaining and insightful, streets ahead of what Sky had to offer.

Instead of seeing Mark Roe use green screen to stand next to Bubba Watson while he hit that famous shot in the play-off last year, telling us nothing we didn’t already know, we had Brown scuttling around on the greens, putting from perilous spots and measuring bunker depths. It had a much more informal feel and that really worked for me.

It is therefore saddening that the BBC’s lack of bidding power means we won’t be seeing any more of this until July. Bring on Muirfield and the Open Championship.