Claude Harmon III salutes the success of the Open Zone at Troon
Wednesday 20 July 2016 19:26, UK
Claude Harmon III looks back at one of the huge successes of Sky's groundbreaking and innovative coverage at Royal Troon - The Open Zone - and believes no other sport in the world can match what the platform achieved.
It's been a fantastic week for Sky, not just at The Open Zone, but the whole operation. The coverage has kept in line with Sky's innovations over the years in all sports. They have revolutionised football and cricket coverage, and now they've taken golf to a new level.
I've been at The Open Zone all week, it's been hugely entertaining and the platform has taken the Sky Cart further. Since Sky introduced the Sky Cart at most events, it's proved very popular with the players. And because of that, we've been able to build stronger relationships with all professionals.
They all enjoy being interviewed at the Sky Cart, and that trend has continued with the Open Zone. You only have to look at the first three days at Royal Troon - we had Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy on the stage. Unfortunately we didn't get Jordan Spieth, but to get three of the world's top four players is pretty good!
I don't think there is another television company in the world that could do that, because they don't know the players as well as we do. I'm sure the golf fans watching at home would have found the insight unbelievable.
We talked to the likes of Jason, Dustin and Rory about what they have been working on, what they're thinking and things like that, it's been fascinating to listen to.
Nick Dougherty has also spent a lot of time here, and he's been a Tour pro for many years and has won some big tournaments and led majors. His insight was also well received along with the likes of Paul McGinley, a successful Ryder Cup captain, and myself and my dad - we've got a pretty good coaching record between us.
The Q&As have been particularly popular, and it's great that we've been able to get the fans involved like that. My thought process this week has been, if I was watching, what would I want to see? Who would I want to see? What would I want to hear them talk about?
I think we've all done a fantastic job collectively this week, and we've literally had a hitting station at a major championship. That's an incredible achievement.
It's equivalent to going to the Champions League final and getting Cristiano Ronaldo before the warm-ups to tell us how he takes free-kicks, how he curls the ball and stuff like that. Imagine watching the build-up to a Formula One grand prix and seeing Lewis Hamilton jump in a car saying: "Right, let me show you how I'm going to be driving in the race."
Because golf is so accessible, people don't realise the magnitude of what we've done this week. We've had the best players in the world, at a major, giving us their time and telling us how they do things. There's no other sport in the world that has done that.
What we've seen at the Open Zone this week is a testament to Sky, and a testament to how the players regard Sky's golf coverage.
I think all the shoots have been great. The stand-out thing for me is that we got three of the best four players in the world to get out here and talk to us. They all gave us a slice of their time and they all did things in their own way. It was such a success to get players like that to come here and talk about what they're doing.
And you cannot overlook what a big week this is for them, it's one of the four biggest weeks of the year for the players, and for them to give us a few minutes of their preparation time during Open week is just phenomenal.
