Television coverage of the LPGA's season-ending CME Group Tour Championship has sparked controversy, with tournament sponsor Terry Duffy openly criticizing the decision to show Saturday's third round on tape delay instead of live.

CME Group CEO Terry Duffy called the scheduling decision "bulls**t" and expressed his frustration about the tournament being shown from 4-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel rather than live. The delay comes despite this being the LPGA's premier season-ending event with record prize money.


"I think that that's inappropriate for a tournament of this magnitude to be on a tape delay," Duffy said. "If you're going to continue to build women's sports, you have to give them the same billing as men and stop the nonsense of saying that we have to show a men's tournament because they're the men."

The scheduling conflict arose because Golf Channel will broadcast the PGA Tour's RSM Classic live from 1-4 p.m. ET on Saturday. This arrangement stems from a 2020 agreement where the PGA Tour negotiates domestic TV contracts for both tours.

While the tournament can be streamed live on ESPN+ (8 a.m.-4 p.m.) and nbcsports.com (2-5 p.m.), Duffy believes the tape delay undermines efforts to elevate women's golf. He has voiced his concerns to LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan but acknowledges the complexity of existing broadcast agreements.

The CME Group Tour Championship will receive live coverage on Sunday, with a three-hour broadcast window from 1-4 p.m. on NBC.

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