Ever wonder which professional golfers cheer for which college football teams?
College football season is officially here!
The long wait is over. The next 19 weeks will feature some sort of college football on your television and it will be glorious.
Our friends at USA Today undertake one of the most important facets of college football – the Coaches Poll. Every week coaches across the country take time to vote among their peers as to who is the best in the country.
Ever wonder where some of the best golfers in the world spent their collegiate years? Or maybe you want to know if you’ll ever run into your favorite Saturday superhero at your alma mater’s university course. Look below to find out!
It was an emotional day in the booth for Nick Faldo.
Nick Faldo finished 16 years on the air with CBS on Sunday, with the network delivering its final golf broadcast of the year with the Wyndham Championship.
His longtime partner Jim Nantz asked him for his final words, and as he broke down, he said, “I blew it” before bursting into tears. He tried saying a few thank-yous to the crew and mentioned “I’ve found these three brothers” to his on-air partners.
It was Nantz who had this to say: “Thank you, Nick, for gracing this booth and our lives. And now, you and Linds will go to your happy place. To the big sky of Montana. God bless you, Nick. Thanks my friend.”
Nick Faldo retired after 19 years as a golf broadcaster. Here’s what his friends and colleagues had to say.
It’s the end of an era on the CBS broadcast.
After 16 years wearing the headset for the network, Sir Nick Faldo said goodbye from the booth during the final round of the 2022 Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Sunday. The six-time major champion, who has a deep history at Sedgefield dating back to his PGA Tour debut at the 1979 Greater Greensboro Open, was honored with a plaque behind the ninth green on the club’s Wall of Fame where he joins the likes of Charlie Sifford and Arnold Palmer.
The broadcast also featured a handful of messages from Faldo’s former and current colleagues both on and off the golf course, and it got to be pretty emotional at times. So much so that Dottie Pepper at one point joked, “Are you guys able to call this or do you want me to take it?”
Stenson’s announcement now raises the question: who’s next to step into the captaincy for the Euros? Ryder Cup stalwarts and LIV golfers Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia are all most likely out of the question due to their status on the upstart circuit that’s long been criticized as a way for the Saudi government to sportswash its human rights record.
European legends like Bernhard Langer and Nick Faldo have most likely aged out of the role, so who does that leave? Here are some options for the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy.
The six-time major champion was signed as a global brand ambassador.
Although Nick Faldo’s tenure as a golf commentator at CBS Sports is coming to an end, he’s not leaving the game completely.
The six-time major champion, who announced weeks ago that he’s retiring from his position on TV after the Wyndham Championship, was signed as a global brand ambassador for Hidden Links and a number of its sister companies — Golfpac Travel, Tee Times USA and Go Play Golf Gift Card.
Faldo, 64, won 33 times internationally and another nine on the PGA Tour. He won three green jackets at the Masters and three British Opens. His best finish in the U.S. Open was solo second in 1988; he also tied for second in the 1992 PGA Championship. Along the way, he held the top spot on the Official World Golf Ranking for 97 weeks.
Faldo also has a golf course design company, which has done work in more than 20 countries.
Meanwhile, Hidden Links books golf tours to Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales and other European destinations. The partnership makes sense since Faldo now lives in the Orlando area, but was born just north of London.
Golfpac Travel and Tee Times USA profess to be the largest golf tour operator in America.
Managing Partners Marc Bender and Adam Wachter released a statement saying they’re “absolutely thrilled to partner with Sir Nick Faldo. Sir Nick is a six-time Major Champion, Hall of Famer, universally respected figure in the world of golf, and for nearly 20 years has had an epic second career in network broadcasting sharing his wit, charm and knowledge. This partnership will be transformative for our businesses as we continue to positively impact the game of golf around the world.”
“With my upcoming plans to step back from full-time broadcasting, I will have the necessary time to be a great partner and contribute to their future growth,” Faldo said.
“I am excited for Trevor; he will be excellent in this role and the team is incredibly well positioned for the future,” said Faldo.
It’s official. Trevor Immelman will replace Nick Faldo as lead golf analyst for CBS Sports beginning in 2023.
Immelman, 42, was confirmed in a press release just hours after Faldo announced on social media that he would retire at the end of the PGA Tour’s regular season at the Wyndham Championship in August, the site of his PGA Tour debut as a player in 1979. Faldo, who turns 65 on July 18, had served as lead analyst for 16 years.
Immelman won the 2008 Masters and is the current International Presidents Cup captain. He joined CBS Sports’ golf team in 2019, and signed a new multi-year deal that begins with the network’s 2023 season, when he assumes his duties alongside Jim Nantz in the 18th tower for the Farmers Insurance Open. Immelman has been perceived as a rising star in the CBS ranks.
“We are thrilled to name Trevor as the lead analyst for golf on CBS,” said Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports. “He brings the credentials and experience as a major champion, along with a unique perspective and knowledge of today’s stars, having recently competed alongside them. Trevor has developed terrific chemistry and relationships with our entire team, and we look forward to him sharing his insights, as he informs and entertains viewers for many years to come.”
Trevor Immelman has served in various roles since joining as a TV broadcaster for both NBC/Golf Channel and CBS Sports since 2019. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
A native of South Africa, Immelman won 11 times worldwide during his career, and was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2006. Two years later, in 2008, he won the Masters, becoming at the time only the second South African to win at Augusta National. He has also played on two President’s Cup teams (2005, 2007) and in 2019 was Vice Captain for fellow countryman Ernie Els. Immelman has also worked for Golf Channel, where he has been a lead analyst and a regular contributor to the network’s Live From coverage at The Players and all four major championships.
“I am excited for Trevor; he will be excellent in this role and the team is incredibly well positioned for the future,” Faldo said in a release.
Nick Faldo started in TV on ABC in 2004 before switching networks.
Nick Faldo’s 16-year career as a golf commentator on CBS Sports is coming to an end.
Faldo announced Tuesday that he’s stepping out of the booth, which he currently shares with Jim Nantz, and retiring. Faldo was last seen in the 18th tower for CBS at the RBC Canadian Open nine days ago, just ahead of the U.S. Open, and will be working this week at the Travelers Championship.
Faldo, a six-time major winner, once said he never imagined himself doing TV work at all.
“Just the complete opposite,” he said in 2013 at Oak Hill Country Club ahead of the 95th PGA Championship. “I said ‘There’s no way I’m going to be on tour for 28 weeks a year, and then retire and be on tour for 28 weeks a year and sit in a TV tower. No way.”’
Nick Faldo (left) and Jim Nantz are joined by Memorial Tournament host Jack Nicklaus in the CBS Sports booth at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 3, 2017 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo: Chris Condon/PGA Tour)
It was a stint on ABC at the 2004 British Open that changed his mind about doing TV work. He was with that network for three seasons before CBS brought him on in 2006, replacing Lanny Wadkins as lead analyst.
“My job is the how, what and when guy,” he told the Democrat & Chronicle. “I let the viewer know what it’s like to be a pro golfer in a certain situation. How is he going to do, what is he going to do and what went wrong.”
On social media, Faldo noted that the first PGA Tour event he played was the Greater Greensboro Open, and that the last event he will work as an analyst will be that same event, now called the Wyndham Championship, 43 years later. He also said that he intends to settle at Faldo Farm, which is currently under construction in Montana, with his wife Lindsay, and devote more time to family and fishing.
Faldo, 64, won 33 times internationally, another nine on the PGA Tour and he won six majors: three green jackets at the Masters and three British Opens. His best finish in the U.S. Open was solo second in 1988; he also tied for second in the 1992 PGA Championship. Along the way, he held the top spot on the Official World Golf Ranking for 97 weeks.
Faldo also has a successful golf course design company, which has done work in more than 20 countries.
On the verge of the 104th PGA Championship, it’s still unclear whether Phil Mickelson will play.
During the Masters in April, the CBS broadcast crew rarely, if ever, mentioned the absence of three-time champion Phil Mickelson.
Out of sight, out of mind? Mickelson’s personal leave of absence didn’t go unnoticed. He’s a larger-than-life figure in the game and the support of his adoring fans was never more evident than when a scene out of a Lollapalooza concert practically lifted him to victory at the ripe age of 50 at the 2021 PGA Championship in Kiawah.
On the verge of the 104th PGA Championship, a mere seven days until Mickelson’s title defense begins at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it’s still unclear whether he will play, and, if he will address the media. Mickelson has ghosted the world since February 22 when he issued a statement that he was in desperate need of some time away to “prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.”
In addition to the obvious of his title defense and that Mickelson hasn’t teed it up since January or been heard from since losing almost all of his sponsors, Alan Shipnuck’s unauthorized biography of Mickelson, which contains the excerpted quotes that have significantly altered his public image, will be released next Tuesday. The Mickelson storyline can no longer be ignored by CBS. Or can it?
On Wednesday during a media conference call, CBS’s Jim Nantz was asked (by me) an open-ended question: What advice would he give to Phil?
Phil Mickelson holds up a silver dollar that belonged to his grandfather during an awards ceremony after winning the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, California. At left is broadcaster Jim Nantz. (Photo: Eric Risberg/Associated Press)
Nantz did something I’d never seen him do before. The voice of CBS Sports, a man capable of waxing rhapsodic on most any subject related to the game and who has shared an intimate relationship with Mickelson for three decades, gave the question the old Heisman stiff arm. He acknowledged that he had spoken to Mickelson and said he was going to keep their conversation private.
But us media types are persistent and later on, Nantz was again asked about Mickelson and this time he offered a bit more, calling it “a totally personal decision” and concluding Mickelson will return at some point, though he didn’t offer when that might be. “Sometimes we get caught up in the cyclone of the story and we think it’s forever. It won’t be forever. He’ll be back, he’ll play, he’s got a ton of fans out there,” Nantz said. “This is a forgiving nation and there’s a million examples of people finding their way back to being on top again, and I fully expect he will one day.”
Nantz’s partner in the booth, Nick Faldo, was more willing to share his opinion, while still dancing around answering the actual question put forth of whether Mickelson should play at the PGA. His mere presence would make him the biggest storyline and Faldo expressed concern that Mickelson may struggle to find the proper mindset to put up much of a fight in his title defense.
“I think he would love to play,” Faldo said. “I personally think it’s an unbelievable mental challenge to come play after what he’s put himself through, simple as that. I don’t think it’s as easy as just getting back on the bike and arriving at a golf tournament and going and playing. The attention is going to be monumental. I don’t know whether he will be mentally ready for that.”
For most of the week, Scottie Scheffler looked poised to become a major champion. He was in complete control of his game and no player in the field could get close to him. Cameron Smith, after opening birdie-birdie on Sunday, was able to get within one shot. But the Texan’s lead was quickly restored after the Aussie made bogeys on Nos. 3 and 4.
As the day went on, Rory McIlroy began to make a charge. On the final hole, McIlroy’s drive found the fairway bunker. He then left his approach shot out to the right and found a greenside sandtrap. The result of his third shot, however, was ruined.
Nick Faldo just couldn’t help himself. McIlroy’s bunker shot was not shown live on CBS but the roar could be heard over the telecast. Faldo said he didn’t want to spoil the outcome but that “something incredible has just happened.”
The spectacular shot finished off a bogey-free 8-under 64 for the Northern Irishman, and at that moment, got him within three shots of the lead.
Faldo went on “The Dan Patrick Show” Tuesday and called the slipup a “rookie mistake.”
Spoiler Gate 🙈
I got caught up in the moment and for a split second I saw Rory in a green jacket…
“I got caught up for that split second and I reacted. You’re right, I got it all wrong for a split second,” Faldo said.
McIlroy’s playing partner, Collin Morikawa, made his bunker shot for birdie from the same bunker just moments later. A series of events that will surely go into Masters history books.
Faldo, who was sitting in the tower behind the 18th green, went nuts when Rory’s ball fell into the hole. But CBS at the time was showing Cam Smith getting ready to putt on the 13th hole so viewers didn’t know what he Faldo was yelling about. He then basically told people that something huge had just happened and wait until they see it.
They then went to McIlroy in the bunker and we all knew what was going to happen.
I get getting caught up in the moment but Faldo needs to be better than that. Again, he’s not a rookie. He’s been doing this for years and he’s been struggling at it for years.
