There were a few different things. More prime time coverage than they would have received from the other broadcast nets. They really seemed to be sucking up to the PGA, with one of the execs sitting in the booth most of the time. Clearly the greens weren't very green, and that caused some players to be grumpy. It was interesting to have the player's highlights and score card on the screen as they interviewed the player after each round. That way they weren't dependent on their memory. But let's face it. Golf isn't ready for prime time. ABC has done it with other west coast opens, and it's really a daytime sport.
which is surprising since the producer they brought in had done other golf tourneys....