Thomas Bjorn and Padraig Harrington join Sky Sports Masters coverage
Sky Sports coverage of the 2017 Masters will include expert analysis from 2018 Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn and three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington.
“I’m extremely excited to have two such respected golfing personalities on the team. Their insight and opinion will add yet another level to our Masters coverage, which includes new programming and features throughout the week.” – Jason Wessely, Head of Golf at Sky Sports
Both European stars have previous experience in the golf studio and commentary box, but this is the first time they are part of the Masters team which also includes 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and Butch Harmon.
Sky Sports is the only place to see all four days’ play live and Bjorn, a 21-time winner on tour, will give his verdict on proceedings on Thursday and Friday. Two-time Open champion Harrington will be part of Sky Sports’ award-winning golf coverage over the weekend, as the winner of the iconic green jacket is decided.
Presentation of the first Major of the year will include exclusive content from Monday April 3rd including ‘Live on the Range’ and ‘Steel Magnolia’, a documentary about Danny Willett’s remarkable victory last year.
Day one of the tournament begins with live coverage of featured groups, Amen Corner and holes 15 and 16 from 2.15pm on the red button, online and on the go. Elsewhere, ‘Masters Breakfast’ will see Nick Dougherty, 2014 Ryder Cup hero Jamie Donaldson and David Howell review all the previous evening’s action.
The BBC will also bring golf fans live TV coverage of the Masters on BBC Two (weekend Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th April) with an extra four live streams on the BBC Sport website and extended coverage on the BBC Red Button. There will be extensive highlights from Thursday and Friday’s play plus action from all four days will be live on Radio 5 live.
Hazel Irvine will front the BBC’s TV coverage alongside expert commentary from Peter Alliss, Ken Brown, Andrew Cotter and Paul Azinger. Rishi Persad will be reporting.
Masters week on the BBC begins with a documentary When Danny Won The Masters which airs on Sunday April 2nd, which tells the extraordinary story of Danny Willett, the Sheffield golfer who last year became the first Briton to win the Championship since 1996.
A special Masters preview show is to broadcast on the 5th April which looks ahead to the 2017 event which sees the world’s greatest golfers battling it out for arguably the sport’s biggest prize – the illustrious green jacket.
“Sky Sports will also be the only broadcaster to show Pro-Tracer, with enhanced ball flight apex as well as 360 degree hole analysis, shot centre and much more.” – Sky Sports
