If you’re a golf fan and spend your weekends watching PGA Tour events on TV then you probably know how embarrassingly bad the CBS broadcasts have been over the years and how they are somehow getting worse each week.
That was never more evident than this past week at the PGA Championship when CBS shared the event with ESPN, with Scott Van Pelt and Co. handling the morning/early afternoon coverage before sadly handing it over to Jim Nantz and Co., who went out of their way to make things really hard to watch. ESPN’s coverage was absolutely perfect, with a steady mix of fun and seriousness along with letting the golf be the star of the show. CBS’ coverage was the exact opposite of that and left fans begging for ESPN to take over.
There was a brief savior for CBS, however, and his name was Phil Mickelson. In a rare brilliant move, the powers that be at CBS somehow got Lefty into the booth for about an hour after he finished his third round and it didn’t take long for everyone watching to call for Mickelson to take over Nick Faldo’s job as the lead analyst and save a golf broadcast team that continues to be tough to watch.
Remember CBS’ lead football team of Nantz and Phil Simms? It was brutal. Then they swapped in Tony Romo for Simms and it became the best in the game thanks to Romo’s incredible ability to predict plays before they happened and teach the viewers about what they were watching. It’s also clear that Romo has fun doing his job, which adds to the enjoyment of the broadcast.
Mickelson proved Saturday that he can do all of that for CBS and the executives in charge of stuff for them should just give Phil all the money he would need to take over that gig.
Mickelson jumped right in and instantly burned Faldo with a great joke that led to an incredibly awkward moment. He then broke down shots before they happened, told viewers how things would play out and laid out exactly what a player should be thinking about with each shot.
He also had more fun at Faldo’s expense, joking about how he didn’t get Faldo’s jokes and how he wouldn’t want to shorten his swing, as Faldo suggested, because then he would “hit it like (Faldo).”
Phil’s energy gave the whole broadcast energy, something it desperately lacks every week.
It was awesome.
The biggest issues with CBS’ coverage continues to be the amount of commercials, the missed shots, the delayed shots, the not showing of key shots, and many more that you’re aware of if you watch each week.
Could Mickelson fix all of those things? No, probably not. But his presence on the broadcast sure would make it more enjoyable for the viewers.
It could be really easy for him, too. Mickelson wouldn’t even have to travel with CBS to events if he didn’t want to. Faldo and others have done most of the events from a studio in Orlando, so Mickelson could get set up with a nice home studio and gleefully call the events that he’s not playing in. Working from home is the new normal and it would work perfectly for Mickelson and CBS.
Mickelson is also 50 years old now and I don’t see him spending a lot of time on the Champions Tour. He’ll still likely be playing a lot of PGA Tour events but CBS could easily find room for him in their broadcasts when he isn’t contending or not in the field.
Is this something that could happen? I’m not sure but Saturday did feel like an audition, one that Mickelson absolutely flushed.
Monday’s biggest winner: Damian Lillard.
The Portland Trail Blazers star crushed the loathsome Skip Bayless on Twitter on Monday and it was an accurate thing of beauty.
Quick hits: Blue Jays show off new home… Danica shuts down troll… Steph Curry a reporter now?
– The Toronto, I mean Buffalo, Blue Jays showed off their new home stadium on Monday and they made a lot of changes to this place.
– Danica Patrick had a perfect response to a sexist troll who ridiculed her for breakup with Aaron Rodgers.
– Steph Curry played the role of a reporter at the PGA Championship on Sunday and asked Collin Morikawa a great question.