BBC tries to hang on to Masters

BBC director-general Mark Thompson, is reported to have flown to Augusta yesterday in an attempt to secure coverage of the Masters golf tournament on the BBC.

According to The Guardian, Thompson attended a meeting with the tournament's organisers in Georgia to renew the existing deal, which expires following this year's Masters which began yesterday.

The paper reports that the organisers nearly accepted an offer from Sky in November before sticking with the BBC, which first broadcast the tournament in 1967, but only on a one-year contract.

The BBC hopes that increased coverage of the tournament, which sees two preview programmes scheduled rather than one and extra features on breakfast shows and BBC News, will persuade the officials to renew the contract.

If the BBC were to lose the Masters, it would leave the corporation with The Open Championship as its only major golf coverage, as The Ryder Cup is now shown on Sky.

The loss would also be a blow to presenter Gary Lineker, who took over from Steve Rider as the Masters anchorman last year. Last week the corporation lost the rights to show FA Cup and England football coverage, which Lineker also fronts, outbid by a joint offer from ITV and Setanta.