To see a high-def
clip of Oosthuizen’s
Sunday double
eagle on No. 2, the
lone alternative is
Masters.com.
INTER-NOT
Videos posted on
You Tube.com of
Watson’s wedge
run the risk of
violating copyright laws.
CBS, Masters keep historic shots
from becoming YouTube hits
Jack Nicklaus said Bubba Watson’s hooked wedge off the pine needles on Augusta National’s 10th hole will “go down as one of the great shots ever played in the game.”
Sports fans seemingly agree as they continue to
talk about the climactic Masters playoff hole, chain-emailing a crude aerial illustration depicting Bubba’s
ball flight and reliving the goosebump-inducing
shot thanks to the joys of technology. Sort of.
If fans searching for Bubba’s shot go to the
online hub for all things buzzworthy, You Tube.com,
what they’ll see is a clip that looks like it’s been shot
through Abraham Zapruder’s camera. Watson’s
approach—or the magnificent, once-in-a-lifetime
double eagle by Louis Oosthuizen—barely register
on You Tube considering their magnitude, with
only cell-phone video recordings of someone’s
television set available for public consumption.
That’s because CBS and Augusta National GC
do not sanction fan posting of high-definition
video clips from their telecast on You Tube, citing
violation of copyright laws that they are entitled
to claim. To see either of the memorable shots in
HD requires going to Masters.com and watching
officially sanctioned highlight packages. Sadly, it’s
a policy that’s short-sighted and ultimately is
costing golf an opportunity to excite younger fans
who want to relive the 2012 Masters’ amazing
feats of skill in the way they know best: a quick
and easy You Tube search.
It may come as a shock to anyone older than 30,
but the vast majority of young people lucky
enough to have a smart phone are You Tube
junkies, pulling up the latest Blake Griffin dunk
and Coachella song performance to show friends
or simply to inspire their own pursuit of excellence.
Even the PGA Tour gets this. After they mysteriously avoided posting a clip of Webb Simpson’s
shank off a hospitality tent at last year’s BMW
Championship—even though he made par, shot
65 and laughed his way to the next tee—the tour
took note of viral video’s potential to expand golf’s
reach. (The tour even has a “channel” on YouTube where highlights are regularly aired.) Not
so with the Masters.
With all due respect to Augusta National and
its beautiful website, kids are not logging onto
Masters.com and sitting through four minutes of
narrated highlights to relive two historic shots.
The club should have known this since Masters
chairman Billy Payne understands catering to
young people. After all, Augusta National is in the
video-game business, a reality Clifford Roberts
could never have imagined.
“We participated in the creation of an enor-
mously successful, award-winning video game in
a continuing attempt to bring young people to the
game,” Payne said at his Masters press conference,
before lauding upgrades to the club’s smartphone
and tablet applications. “These improvements
were primarily motivated by our contrarian
belief that even beauty and sense of place can be
created on a digital device when the subject
matter is as remarkable as Augusta National.”
Payne is right. And if he’s true to his word, he
will work with CBS to start putting the remark-
able subject matter of the 2012 Masters on
You Tube where it can motivate golfers of all
generations for years to come. Louis’ 2 on two
and Bubba’s blast from the trees would have
been a great start. N
