Sky Sports undoubtedly did a very fine job of covering The Open. As ever, the production quality was superb, the ads were kept to a minute, the interactive options were varied and invariably excellent and they even kept Colm Montgomerie out on the course for a full four days.
This was the first time in the Open's 145-year history that live coverage of the tournament was not on free-to-air TV, and despite the fact that Sky's coverage was of such quality, viewing figures collapsed.
Yesterday's shoot-out between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson was among the best day's of golf ever played at a major tournament, yet Sky's peak viewership came in at 922,000. Compare that to the apogee of BBC's coverage last year, with the audience peaking at 4.7 million.
These figures were more or less corresponded on the opening day:
Sky's day one viewing figures for the golf 255,000. BBC highlights programme 1.2 million. Double bogey for @RandA #TheOpen
— Eric White (@ericwhite80) July 17, 2016
With Rory McIlroy being castigated by the golfing world for his dismissive comments about golf in the Olympics, with his comments seen as being a slap in the face to those who have worked hard to grow golf through its inclusion in the Olympics. Perhaps the broadcasting of Britain's blue-chip golf event on terrestrial TV would help that effort significantly.
These poor figures are not unique to golf: the same has happened to Gaelic football and hurling.
