BBC turns down chance to show PGA Tour golf highlights for free

The attitude of the BBC towards golf has been further emphasised with news the broadcaster has turned down multiple opportunities to televise highlights of PGA Tour events which would be given to them for free.

This weekend’s Players Championship is among high-profile tournaments in the United States which are not available to a UK terrestrial audience. Via the live broadcast deal the PGA Tour has with Sky, highlights could be shown by another channel on, for example, a Monday evening magazine show.

However, industry insiders have revealed the BBC has continually shown no interest in taking up such an option. That stance is believed to have caused frustration in the upper echelons of the PGA Tour, where the importance of the UK market is known.

The BBC essentially gave up on live rights to the Open Championship – and a year earlier than had been originally planned – from 2016. There is currently no deal in place for BBC television highlights for this year’s Masters. That scenario could change at the 11th hour but, for now, there are no plans for the BBC to send their television golf talent to the first major of 2023 in Georgia.

Eyebrows were also raised when Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick failed to make the shortlist for the most recent BBC Sports Personality of the Year award despite being the reigning US Open champion. Fitzpatrick made it known he had no interest in attending the ceremony.

The BBC has declined to comment on their PGA Tour stance but the demographic of golf followers has been widely cited as the reason for their attitude towards the sport. Yet golf participation boomed during the Covid pandemic, with figures released by the R&A last week confirming further growth in 2022.

The R&A’s data showed that there