Take Two

Mark Loomis listened intently to the criticism that came his way after last year’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. As the coordinating producer for all United States Golf Association events at Fox Sports, Loomis considers it part of his job to read everything that’s written about his broadcasts.

Last year that required time and a thick skin. The inaugural Fox broadcast was widely panned by television critics and drew loud protests from fans that had become accustomed to watching the U.S. Open on NBC, which held the rights for the previous 21 years.

Lead analyst Greg Norman, who had little broadcasting experience, struggled in the role. Some viewers and critics had trouble getting comfortable with Fox’s new twists that included tracers that followed the ball after it was struck and open mics on the course that picked up the conversations between the golfers and their caddies.

Loomis listened to it all. Some of the criticism was justified, he said. Some of it wasn’t.

“I definitely pay attention to what people are saying,” Loomis said. “I love to read as much as I can about what people are saying. We take it all in and then we try to address it. I also know there are reasons for things. It’s my job to figure out what we did well and what we didn’t do well.”

Fox Sports, which holds the rights for the next 10 years, gets its second opportunity to broadcast the U.S. Open this week at Oakmont.

The biggest change Loomis made was with the talent on the broadcast team. Norman is out and Paul Azinger, who had been the lead analyst at ESPN and ABC from 2005-15, is in. Curtis Strange, who also worked for ESPN and ABC, was added as a commentator.

Loomis worked with both when he was the coordinating producer for ABC/ESPN golf from 2004-06 and again from 2009-11. He won a Sports Emmy for outstanding live sports special for the 2005 British Open. Azinger was part of that team.

“Paul has a ton of experience,” Loomis said. “He did a bunch of Opens for ESPN plus British Opens. He understands what is important at what time. He knows when to bring in the commentators. He knows when he has 10 seconds here or 30 seconds here. All of that is unteachable. Paul is good at that.”

Strange brings a wealth of U.S. Open experience as a player and broadcaster. He won the event in consecutive years in 1988 and ’89 and almost added a third at Oakmont in 1994 when he was one shot off the lead.

“When Curtis is talking about a golf shot he has such credibility to his opinions,” Loomis said.

While Azinger and Strange add credibility and familiarity, Loomis said the conversations between golfers and caddies will continue.

“We were criticized for not talking enough,” Loomis said. “But we were hearing so much from the players. What they were saying was so much better.”

Loomis also believes a traditional U.S. Open course such as Oakmont will make the broadcast better for a variety of reasons. Chambers Bay had never played host to a U.S. Open before last year and there were challenges associated with the course from a broadcasting perspective.

“The biggest thing is we’ve been through it now,” Loomis said. “We did eight or nine telecasts since then. We have a much better feel for who we are and where we need to go.”

Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1