SiriusXM Canada, the country’s leading audio entertainment company, will be the exclusive national radio broadcaster for the 116th U.S. Open Championship, offering listeners nationwide extensive coverage from historic Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania throughout U.S. Open week, including all four days of Championship play – June 16 through June 19.
Few courses in the world are as challenging and steeped in championship tradition as Oakmont, which has hosted more major championships than any other course in the U.S., including eight U.S. Opens, five U.S. Amateurs, and two U.S. Women’s Opens. SiriusXM’s programming will feature more than 30 hours of live hole-by-hole coverage across all four rounds of play, as well as a possible Monday playoff. Live championship coverage will begin each championship day at 12:00 pm ET.
SiriusXM’s Brian Katrek will anchor the play-by-play broadcast with former PGA Tour pro Mark Carnevale serving as the analyst in the booth. A team of roving reporters, featuring veteran broadcasters and Tour pros Fred Albers, Doug Bell, Maureen Madill, John Maginnes and Dennis Paulson, will provide commentary from around the course.
All programming will be available to subscribers nationwide on satellite radios (Sirius channel 208, XM channel 92) and on the SiriusXM app.
Leading up to the Championship, SiriusXM will also present a series of specials hosted by esteemed Oakmont head professional Bob Ford, who joined SiriusXM as a host in 2015:
“Jack’s First Major”
This Saturday, June 4 (11:00 am ET), SiriusXM will debut an hour-long retrospective on Jack Nicklaus’ first major victory, which came at the 1962 U.S. Open played at Oakmont. Ford and his co-host, Taylor Zarzour, sat down for a long-form conversation with Nicklaus, who looks back at his playoff victory over heavily-favored Arnold Palmer. After Saturday’s debut, the special will air several times leading up to the U.S. Open.
“Major Champions at Oakmont”
On Monday, June 6 (8:00 pm ET) Ford and Zarzour host a special featuring interviews with several players who won major championships at Oakmont, including Nicklaus (1962 U.S. Open), Johnny Miller (1973 U.S. Open), Ernie Els (1994 U.S. Open), John Mahaffey (1978 PGA Championship) and others.
“18 Holes at Oakmont with Bob Ford & Eric Church”
On Saturday, June 11 (11:00 am ET) Ford will give listeners a hole by hole look at the U.S. Open course at Oakmont alongside country music superstar and avid golfer Eric Church. Ford and Church, who played the course together last month, will share their unique perspectives on what players will face – lightning fast greens, the famous Church Pew bunkers, and more – when they play one of the world’s most challenging courses.
“Playing for Pride Live”
Ford will also host his regular SiriusXM show, Playing for Pride, live from the media center during U.S. Open week (June 14 at 4:00 pm ET).
The U.S. Open Championship, conducted by the United States Golf Association, is the most democratic of the major championships, as evidenced by its global qualification process. In 2016, the USGA accepted more than 9,800 entries from professional and amateur golfers to compete for its most prestigious championship.
In addition to live Championship coverage, SiriusXM’s daily U.S. Open coverage will feature exclusive shows hosted by World Golf Hall of Famers Ben Crenshaw and Hale Irwin; major-winners Mark Calcavecchia, Larry Mize and Craig Stadler; former tour prosChris DiMarco, Mark Lye and Carl Paulson; as well as top instructors Hank Haney, David Leadbetter, Jim McLean, Larry Rinker,Dave Stockton and Golf Channel’s Michael Breed.
Martin Davis will host a special devoted to the history of the U.S. Open at Oakmont, featuring archival audio highlights from past events dating back to the 1920s. The special debuts Sunday, June 12 at 11:00 am ET and airs multiple times during U.S. Open week.
SiriusXM’s programming lineup will also feature shows hosted by Matt Adams, Fred Albers, David Armitage, Brian Crowell, Frank Darby, John Feinstein, Greg Warmoth, Jeff Warne, Taylor Zarzour and others. Visit www.siriusxm.ca/sports/pga for a daily schedule.
SiriusXM airs live coverage of all four major championships – The Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship – as well as the Ryder Cup and most of the PGA Tour events throughout the season, including the PLAYERS Championship and all FedExCup Playoff tournaments.
