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Mark Hensby complained in his post round interview that the announcers are overly critical of the lesser known players. Hensby stated that when the top stars hit a bad shot the announcers claim that it was because they were being too aggressive and when a guy like him hits a bad shot the announcers say he's choking. The announcers never say the top players are choking.

That's not verbatim but from what I heard, it's pretty close. He made sure to immediately repeat his comments for emphasis. He didn't mention any specific announcer and my impression was that he was lumping them all together.

I don't know Mark Hensby and I'm not very familiar with his game.......but I know a whine when I hear one :nodsmiley My first thought was why isn't he more focused on his game and less focused on what some talking head in the booth has to say? He's playing very well in the US Open and all he wants to talk about is what the announcers say? If he honestly feels this is true I guess my advice to him would be to work harder to be a "top player" and the announcers won't pick on him so much. Just ask VJ and Tiger.......they never get picked on by any announcers!

What do you think about Hensby's claim?

edited: missed the sarcasm!

I think leaguegolf was being sarcastic about this. Miller doesn't play favorites, he knocks em all.

Hensby is right....the announcers do this every tournament.

I think Hensby doesn't pay too close attention, especially if he's talking about this particular event...because Johnny Miller will not hesitate in criticizing Tiger, Vijay, Phil, or Ernie. The only one he's always praised is Goosen, and for good reason (but also because he wrote a column in a golf magazine prior to the event in which he picked the Iron Goose to win...so he is slightly biased toward Goosen). However, in general, most announcers seem to be pretty fair because the word "choke" is basically taboo among announcers when you think about it. I mean, Miller is the only one who says it all the time, but he says it when the top guns mess up too (not JUST for the lesser known players). One time that I remember Miller saying that Vijay was too aggressive was at Bay Hill this year, but that's because Vijay went for a tucked pin and ended up in the water b/c the ball ballooned up into the air on him. The shot was solidly struck, going right at the hole, but simply got killed by the wind...and Miller said something about Vijay simply going for a pin that he shouldn't have in that circumstance. Maybe Hensby saw this one comment and assumed that announcers always go easy on the top players?

Some very strange timing for that sort of comment coming from a guy who's still in this thing and should have more important things on his mind than certain announcer's alleged biases. He doesn't get the soapbox very often and must have figured this may be the only chance he'd have to get this off of his chest. Very odd...

CBS does a great job,
ABC is ok, but kind of boring,
NBC just seems very critical.

imho,
stagday

Who me?

You mean announcers actually say derogatory things about Tiger and VJ? It's easy to jump on Johnny Miller here, but I didn't get the impression that Hensby was referring only to Miller. Wazmankg was probably on target when he mentioned that Hensby found himself in the spotlight and used the rare occasion to spout off. You'd think he's have more important things on his mind.

I guess the little animation means you are being sarcastic but maybe we havent been watching the same golf telecasts. VJ the DJ and ******* NEVER get picked on and that is the absolute truth. They can do anything they want (ruin greens, for instance) and there is always a simple explanation behind it. This whole week VJ putted as bad as he ever has and all the announcer had to say was, "He just simply cannot read the speed of these greens this week." It didnt matter that he putted off the green 3 or 4 times, when he finally started rolling some in on Sunday, they were right back with him, saying he had a chance at winning.

On another note, I am real tired of Tiger's little gestures and facials he gives every time he is struggling. Give us a break.

Saying someone "simply cannot read the speed of these greens this week" IS a criticism and he wasn't out of it until it became obvious that Campbell wasn't going to crash & burn and VJ's putting woes were going to continue. VJ's erratic putting has been well documented and noted by numerous announcers over the years. As for Tiger, his reluctance to go pin hunting was criticized a number of times this weekend as was his inability to get a feel for the course.

That is not true. Miller hammered VJ because of is lack of putting this weekend. As far a Tiger goes....I guess when your the best in the world you can make any facial expression you want.

Check your PM.

I would have to say that even though i watched most of the final day and ms. Boomer did also, now i don't care for mr. Miller very much at all because i find him wayyyyyyy to biased for some and very critical of others, but when i said i hope whoever paid miller to say nothing but good things about tiger it was a *** load.....and then when Campbell won he sure started to criticize tiger. but until that point he was kissing his **** big time.

I met Hensby last year at a meet and greet when the tour stopped in town for the Booz Allen (didn't meet anyone this year, the wedding plans are overwhelming my visits to golf shops). Hensby is about as nice and humble a guy as you will ever meet. I talked to him for about an hour on all types of subjects and he was nothing but polite, kind, and humble.

I'm not sure of the cricumstance, but he wouldn't be totally off base with his comments. No one has mentioned that its possible he could have been asked a question about the coverage or announcers and responded to it, he might not just be ranting. Although, I did not see the comments, and do not know the situation.

But I'll vouch for Hensby being as nice a guy as I've met.

I didn't say Hensby wasn't a "nice guy." I was only wondering why he seemed more concerned with announcers in general than he was about his golf game. Obviously he had taken offense to something an announcer had said about him and was using his 15 seconds of fame to voice his displeasure. I didn't catch any of the Open's announcers mention that Hensby had "choked" so I was curious as to why he made his comments.

Miller="On the 17th hole, you pushed your shot to the right, which is not where you want to be. Did you choke on that shot?

stagday="Nope"

Miller="On the 18th hole, you overshot the green. Don't you know it's impossible to get up and down from over the green?

stagday="Nope"

Miller="You had a great chance to win this tournament til the last 2 holes. It really looks like you choked or didn't have a clue what you were doing out there. Would you agree?"

stagday= "Nope. If you're so good, why aren't you playing on the Senior Tour? And why didn't you win a Master's title? Don't you know it's impossible to win a tournament from the booth?

Miller="Nope"