By Christopher Powers
“Phil Mickelson would make a great analyst some day,” is hardly an original take, but one that just about everybody who follows the sport can embrace. Considering how disagreeable everyone who follows the sport can be, it’s one of Mickelson’s more impressive off-course feats.

But it’s the truth – he will make a great colour guy. We know how loquacious he can be, which, depending on the topic, can rub some people the wrong way. But when he’s talking golf, everyone stops and listens. Whether it be about his game, another player’s game or a shot he’s about to hit, his insight is always on-point.

On Saturday afternoon, we got a sneak peek at Mickelson’s potential as a broadcaster (this is assuming he’ll even go that route in retirement), and we really liked what we saw. Lefty joined Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo in the booth right around 6 p.m. ET, just after posting a third-round 70 that kept him at one over for the tournament. We broke down everything we heard from the five-time major champion.

It got off to an, ummm, inauspicious start

OK, so it wasn’t all high flop shots and bombed drives for Phil during his CBS appearance. It actually looked like it might be a trainwreck at first, but it was through no fault of his own. For that you can blame the actual analyst, Nick Faldo, who completely missed a joke Mickelson opened with like it was open mic night.

“Let’s have a little Phireside Chat with Phil,” said Nantz.

“Thanks, it’s nice to be here,” Mickelson replied. “There’s three things I do well: play golf, and talk golf…”

*dead silence*

“What’s the third thing? You said three things,” Faldo asked.

“You setting him up?” asked Nantz, who understood the original joke. “Leave it to your imagination, dear boy.”

“Oh, that went right over my head,” said Faldo.

Gee, ya think? My word. Things could not have gotten off to a more awkward start.

Don’t worry, he bounced back

In typical Phil fashion, he won everybody back over rather quickly. We can thank Nantz for that. The CBS host asked him to break down TPC Harding Park, and Mickelson didn’t disappoint.

“I think it’s one of the best setups, because it is a difficult test, you’ve got enough elements with the wind and the heavy air. It challenges the ballstriking and the ability to manoeuvre the shots into the wind. The greens are soft though, there’s not a lot of contours, especially for sites that we play majors on. So you can make a lot of putts… not me, but the players. When you get hot with the putter you can really make a lot of putts. There’s not a lot of curvature in them, and not the fear of the ball racing away.”

That’s the good stuff. Full breakdown of the course, plus a nice little dig at himself. A bounce-back birdie if we ever saw one.

He gave his “no fans” take

Every player and their mother has been asked about how it’s different without the fans. Mickelson has probably already answered the question at some point, but he was asked again by Faldo, and it was very interesting to hear what he thought considering nobody leans on the energy from the people quite like Lefty.

“It can be difficult given that we need the fans, we need the people to support us to be able to play golf for a living, it’s a big part of our success and our opportunity. But there’s a lot less energy expended during the week when it’s like this. So you’re seeing a lot more practice sessions, a lot more work being done and guys moving about with a lot more ease. Not that it’s good for us or good for the game or that we love it, but we’re making the most of it.”

Now, for some actual analysis

Oh, right, there was a golf tournament going on. This is what Phil does, he sucks you in to the point you forget about everything else that’s occurring around you. It’s a gift. I hear he’d make a great analyst some day …

OK, anyway. CBS went back to live golf shots and Mickelson went to work. Following a poor Justin Rose approach shot on the first hole, which came from the right side of the fairway, cameras cut to Brooks Koepka, who was more toward the left side of the fairway, setting up a much better look at the pin.

“Little bit better angle here Jim,” said Mickelson. “He has much more room in front to let it skip back there.”

On command, Koepka hit a wedge that landed about 10 feet in front of the pin and skipped to the back of the green, leaving about 12 feet for birdie. Phil Mickelson? More like Tony Romo, am I right?

At the short par-4 seventh, Tony Finau hit a bunker shot to a few feet. “That was a nice shot, to get it so close with such little green to work with.” Game recognize game. “Left-edge putt maybe, it just barely goes right,” Mickelson said. Bang. He’s 2-for-2. Easy game!

CBS then rolled out the highlight of Mickelson’s eagle chip-in on that same hole from earlier in the day. “I needed something, so I got a little aggressive, that ball is going a little bit fast and it hit the pin [and went in]. Like Dave Pelz often says, the pin can help you, and it did there. That was a 60 degree, little runner.”

Chef’s kiss.

More takes!

The haters will say they’ve had enough Bryson, but in reality it just means they want more. As CBS showed a DeChambeau shot, Phil rolled out the take machine.

“When you look at Bryson, you’re like ‘Wow, that man hits bombs.’ You know he hits bombs, and he does, but then, I thought the same when I first saw you Nick. You’re big, strong, and that was like the furthest thing that happened.”

Dagger! But Faldo fought back. “When you’ve won seven majors, you can rip me as much as you like.” Oh, hell yes. For a second, the CBS set almost turned into “Inside the NBA on TNT” with Shaq and Charles Barkley going at it. So good.

Speaking of takes, we got a Collin Morikawa one too. “Solid player, isn’t he?” said Mickelson. Morikawa then checked up a wedge to a few feet. “I like that check there, that’s very attractive.”

Moments later, Mickelson also got in another mini-shot at himself and his driving accuracy (or lack thereof). After watching Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Daniel Berger and Jason Day all find the first fairway, Mickelson said “Those four balls in the first fairway, they made that look way easier than it is. That is a hard crosswind and they are working the ball back into it, into an 18-yard wide fairway.”

He didn’t want to leave

The knee-jerk take on social media was that this was an audition for Phil, who no doubt has plenty of good golf left in him and will feast on the PGA Tour Champions at some point. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to work two jobs at once. Let’s just say Nick Faldo is probably feeling a little nervous right now.

It didn’t help Faldo that Phil refused to leave the booth. He was almost too comfortable, continuing to analyze shots and fire off takes. “When he’s out there laughing and having fun, he’s going to play some good golf,” said Mickelson of Haotong Li, who he’s become close with. “What I don’t want to see is him quiet, I want to see him talking to his caddie to kind of relax him a bit.” Not quite Johnny Miller’s “nerves,” but a cool thing to hear from Mickelson nonetheless.

At one point, when CBS returned from commercial, it felt like a one-man show. After breaking down a Tommy Fleetwood approach shot, he seamlessly transitioned to a Scottie Scheffler putt, as if he’d been doing this job his entire life. At numerous points, you couldn’t help but wonder if he was taking time to breathe during all the talking, which could be a side effect of all the damn coffee. When and if he does become an analyst, may we suggest cutting back on the caffeine, Phil? Otherwise, he’s going to be just fine.

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By Joel Beall and Brian Wacker
Davis Love III announced on Tuesday evening that he will no longer be working for CBS Sports. In a statement on Twitter, he thanked the network for the opportunity but said that he wanted to return his primary focus to playing.

“Since golf returned in June, CBS has allowed me time to focus on my family, play a few tournaments, and bring some stability back in a difficult year,” Love said on Twitter. “I have realized in this time my passion to play is still strong, and my heart yearns to be home.”

Speaking with Golf Digest on Tuesday night, Love also admitted that he found out just how difficult the job is. Playing golf on TV is a lot different than talking about golf on TV.

“I always had respect for everyone [at CBS], and now I have even greater respect for them,” Love said. “It was a lot more challenging than I expected.

“When [someone in the booth] would say something about one of my shots I’d think boy when you climb up into the tower you become a genius. I’d think, How come no one’s any good at it? What I found is that I was right. I found out it’s hard to do. I was nervous on TV, surprisingly nervous.”

Last October CBS Sports hired Love, one of the more respected personalities in the sport, as an analyst its hopes of revamping its golf telecast. But there were growing pains as Love assimilated to his new position. His attention was also divided, as his Sea Island, Ga., house was consumed by fire in late March.

With the CBS team scattered all over the country, the technical difficulties of broadcasting golf during the COVID-19 pandemic also proved hard to adjust to for Love. He grew increasingly frustrated by the challenges of the job and wary of the criticism and it showed.

During last month’s RBC Heritage, which Love also played in, CBS Sports executive producer Lance Barrow, a longtime friend of Love’s, suggested to Love that maybe he should go home to take care of things there. He could see that Love’s attention was divided to say the least. Love stuck around, trying to work his way through it.

But it never worked out.

“It’s been a rough year for me and my family,” Love said. “And playing those few weeks I understood that I was not ready to quit playing. My heart says I need to be home and the golfer in me says I need to be playing golf. I’ve balanced that my whole life and didn’t need to add anything to that.”

A 21-time tour winner and 1997 PGA champ, Love twice served as captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017. This season, he made eight PGA Tour starts as well as one appearance on the PGA Tour Champions, and he said that he will return to playing full-time at next week’s PGA Championship.

As for the possibility of returning to broadcasting sometime in the future?

“In a different year, who knows what would’ve happened,” Love said. “No doors are ever closed for me. I’m a glass half full kind of guy.”

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CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus on Monday laid out plans for coverage from Colonial Country Club and beyond, the network beginning a mammoth 11-week stretch that includes the PGA Championship in August. Golf’s return is something fans at home are eager for, having been without tour coverage since the Players Championship was cancelled after the first round on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, a pause of 90 days.

The primary takeaways from a 90-minute conference call, which also included host Jim Nantz and lead analyst Nick Faldo, for viewers anxious to know what they might see this weekend included these highlights:

• Though the network plans to use roughly the same amount of equipment as before the hiatus, it will reduce the number of personnel on the ground by half, including having just three announcers in Fort Worth: Nantz in the 18th tower and Dottie Pepper and Mark Immelman as on-course reporters. Other talent, including Faldo, Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo, will chime in from Golf Channel studios in Orlando.

• “Satellite personnel” from various locations, including in Stamford, Conn., New York and Los Angeles, will provide supporting production tasks such as graphics and videotape replays.

• As many players as possible, with the tour’s help, will be mic’d up in order to include them during each broadcast.

• A remote “confession cam” will be set up somewhere on the course—not yet specified but perhaps near the 10th tee, as an example—where players can voluntarily step in and provide a 20-second sound bite.

• While there will be no fans watching the action at Colonial, the network will eschew piping in any audio enhancements—another way of saying it will not add fake crowd noise or reactions. As Nantz said, appropriately, “The key word is ‘fake.’ As a fan … just take it for what it is, give me the real scene and let me deal with it.”

“This is the most complicated production plan I’ve ever been involved in and that includes Super Bowls and Final Fours and other events,” said McManus, who primarily is worried about the health of the on-site crew rather than the challenges of producing the golf broadcasts with a new plan that has been in the works for two months. “It’s different than anything we’ve ever done.”

“It’s an unusual time in our careers,” Faldo said. “You’ve just got to embrace it.”

Another wrinkle, and a big one that will frame coverage the first week, will be an introductory monologue from Nantz shortly after coming on air. The longtime golf host will, in his own words, put the return of golf—and, more broadly, sports in general—in the proper perspective amid two ongoing world-altering events: the COVID-19 pandemic and the impassioned protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

“It’s one of the great challenges in my 35 years in broadcasting,” Nantz said, generally, of his assignment sitting alone in the 18th tower while coordinating with Faldo and other remote broadcasters.

As for what he will say on Thursday on Golf Channel and again on Saturday to kick off CBS’ weekend coverage, Nantz was still formulating the proper message, mostly at it pertains to anti-racism protests that have spread around the world.

“Tonally, we have to get this right. I consider this to be perhaps the most important moment in this country in my lifetime,” Nantz said. “We can’t let this opportunity pass without real and meaningful progress when it comes to equality, diversity, justice, love and empathy.

“And then I hope to express that at the top, this is not going to be something that’s going to be a three-hour commentary on my part. It’s just bringing us on the air, looking at the landscape of golf tournament and where are we in the world. And we are here at this moment in time, understanding the sports is a wonderful form of escape for people.

RELATED: The three most significant ways having no fans will directly impact play when the PGA Tour restarts

“Sports has always had a great role in this country as a chance to unify as people,” he added. “And I think … the golf tour being back in action, it comes at a very important place in time in this country’s history, a chance to get people to actually watch something together, root together, unify together. And I hope that that can be achieved.”

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By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour announced Monday a new nine-year media agreement with CBS Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN.

The long-awaited deal, running from 2022 through 2030, essentially maintains the status quo in the television arena. CBS will average 19 events per year through the lifespan of the contract while NBC will get eight events in addition to airing early round and early weekend coverage on its Golf Channel platform. As was previously reported, the networks will alternate FedEx Cup Playoff coverage, with NBC assuming command in 2022.

On the digital/streaming front, ESPN has assumed the Tour’s direct-to-consumer rights within the United States, which will be offered on ESPN+. As a result of the deal, PGA Tour Live, the Tour’s subscription video service, will live exclusively on ESPN+ beginning in 2022. (Discovery owns the streaming rights to the PGA Tour outside the United States through 2030; GOLFTV and Golf Digest are both a part of Discovery.)

Additionally, the Tour secured a rights agreement for the LPGA Tour. The women’s circuit will see its programming continue on the Golf Channel along with added exposure on NBC and CBS beyond its current arrangement of majors, which are already on the networks.

As part of the deal, the Tour is assuming new responsibilities on production and technical infrastructure. Though CBS and NBC will still use their own teams in their respective broadcasts, the Tour’s participation will allow it more efficiently aggregate, distribute and develop content for its various platforms worldwide, according to the Tour.

“Following a comprehensive process of studying the market, talking to all interested parties and analyzing our various options, we’re excited to announce that we have entered into new agreements with our existing partners ViacomCBS and Comcast/NBC Sports Group, while establishing a new long-term relationship with Disney and ESPN+,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a press release. “We were extremely pleased with the interest we received from the market—both with incumbents and other media companies—and are excited that our current partners shared our vision for the future, and we are equally excited to be back in business with Disney and ESPN+.

“These new deals will be a major win for our fans, bringing an elevated commitment from all three partners to help us expand and innovate our content and its delivery.”

While financial terms of the deal were not released, the New York Times and Variety report an increase of at least 60 percent from media companies over the previous deal, which was claimed to be valued at $400 million. SportsBusiness Journal reported in December that the pending deal could be worth as much as $700 million. PGA Tour announces nine-year media deals with CBS, NBC and ESPN

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By Alex Myers
Former CBS Golf analyst Peter Kostis took aim at his old employer, the PGA Tour and Patrick Reed in a provocative interview on this week’s No Laying Up Podcast.

Kostis was critical of how CBS dropped him at the end of 2019 from its golf coverage after three decades, but also of the PGA Tour’s increasing control over tournament broadcasts. While Kostis naturally has an ax to grind with his ex-employer, his comments were particularly pointed. We encourage you to listen to his entire talk with No Laying Up’s Chris Solomon, but here are some highlights:

On CBS going in a new direction:
Kostis describes being informed by CBS that his contract would not be renewed.

“I don’t think there was a plan in place,” Kostis said. “I honestly think, and this is my opinion and it’s been corroborated by anonymous inside sources that media likes to use these days, that it was the tour that told CBS to get younger. I think the tour had an issue with me not being a cheerleader.”

On being pressured into promoting PGA Tour initiatives:
Kostis described the PGA Tour voicing its displeasure with Kostis asking a first-time tour winner how it felt to earn an invite to the Masters.

“That was roughly my question. And then, I got a phone call the next day from New York. They had gotten a call from the commissioner, and the commissioner was upset I didn’t say, first off, that he had won 500 FedEx Cup points. And he didn’t want me talking about majors.”

Kostis says he didn’t listen to the directive, and he was eventually replaced as the person interviewing the winner on Sundays.

On the PGA Tour dictating TV coverage:
Kostis suggested his blunt style clashed with the tour’s emphasis on promotion, saying the tour wants more “cheerleaders” than analysts.

“From the bottom of my heart I believe this, that no one in management of a network or at the leadership of the PGA Tour gives a rat’s ass about the quality of the telecast. They don’t care about the quality of the viewer experience. They don’t care about anything other than promotion. They’re interested in the marketing of the product.”

When reached by Golf Digest, officials with CBS and the PGA Tour declined to comment about the Kostis’ interview.

Three days after CBS announced it was not renewing the contracts of Kostis or Gary McCord, the network announced it had hired Davis Love III as a new announcer, timing that would suggest there was a strategy being followed. A source familiar with the relationship between the Tour and its broadcast partners disputed that the Tour requested any of the changes to the CBS broadcast lineup.

CBS is reportedly close to signing a nine-year extension of its broadcast contract with the tour of the current contract that ends in 2020.

Later in the interview, Kostis was asked about Reed and whether the incident that took place with him at the Hero World Challenge surprised the former announcer.

“I’ve seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, up close and personal, four times now,” Kostis said. “It’s the only time I ever shut [Gary] McCord up. He didn’t know what to say when I said, ‘Well, the lie I saw originally wouldn’t have allowed for this shot.’ Because he put four or five clubs behind the ball, you know, kind of faking whether he was going to hit this shot or hit that shot and by the time he was done, he hit a freaking 3-wood out of there, which when I saw, it was a sand wedge layup originally.”

Kostis gives other examples regarding Reed, but again, you should listen to the entire interview. As Kostis notes, he may not work for CBS anymore, but whether it’s through his Twitter feed or interviews like this, he’s certainly not retired from being one of the game’s loudest voices.

It’s finally happened.

Peter Kostis is here to discuss his departure from CBS, golf on TV, what needs to change, other Patrick Reed incidents he’s seen (!), and so much more.

He does not hold back. Go now.

Apple: https://t.co/q9YDSK4PsO
Spotify: https://t.co/sICOmq7eel pic.twitter.com/OJLOCjbsjG

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) February 19, 2020

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By Joel Beall
CBS Sports’ broadcast of the final round of the Genesis Invitational drew criticism from fans Sunday.

Although social media can be cruel and uncompromising when it comes to its opinion of golf coverage, several mistakes left viewers wondering what was going on at Riviera. These slips included:

• An incorrect score board from the LPGA’s Women’s Australian Open, caught by No Laying Up. The tournament ended Saturday night.

• A singular Korn Ferry Tour highlight, featuring a putt from Peter Uihlein. Although Uihlein entered the day with the lead, he finished T-20 at the Suncoast Classic, which had already been decided when the event update was televised.

• Delayed footage of Harold Varner III topping his tee shot at the iconic 10th hole. Varner was tied at the time of the miscue, which was noted by CBS Sports analyst Ian Baker-Finch. Varner’s top was eventually shown in a highlight package some 90 minutes after it occurred.

• The relative broadcast absences of Max Homa, one of the more popular PGA Tour players on social media, and Joel Dahmen. As the Twitter handle Deep Fried Egg pointed out, at one juncture Homa, then a stroke back of the lead, had only a single shot televised while Rickie Fowler—who was not in the field—had two highlights during the program.

Golf Digest spoke with sources associated with the CBS Sports golf broadcast on Sunday. There was acknowledgement that, while no broadcast is perfect, some of the mistakes were inexcusable. Other misses, like not originally airing the Varner shot, can get lost in the chaos of the production van.

As for complaints that players were not given their proper television time, deciding who to show and when is an inexact science, a matter complicated due to Sunday’s compacted leader board.

CBS Sports recently overhauled its golf lineup, both in front of and behind the camera. The network did not renew the contracts of Gary McCord and Peter Kostis, added Davis Love III and Trevor Immelman and elevated Dottie Pepper and Frank Nobilo to new roles. Meanwhile, longtime producer Lance Barrow will step down following the 2020 season.

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By Brian Wacker
On Tuesday, CBS Sports announced that it has hired Davis Love III as one of its golf analysts, beginning in 2020, with Love’s debut coming at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January. He’ll also work the Masters, the PGA Championship and a number of other PGA Tour events. The news comes after the network parted ways with analysts Peter Kostis and Gary McCord.

That Love was hired is hardly a surprise, given his close friendship with CBS golf producer Lance Barrow, whom he has known for decades. But what will Love’s role at the network look like? Will he be in the booth, or on the course? Will he continue to play? What kind of analyst will he be?

Love, 55, said that his playing days aren’t over yet—the 21-time tour winner and 1997 PGA Championship winner is teeing it up at this week’s inaugural Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour and is expected to play in other events as the schedule allows—but noted that his focus has “fully shifted” to doing television.

“I don’t know what my role is going to be yet; we’re going to figure it out,” Love told Golf Digest. “I thought at first that sitting in the tower would be easier, but maybe it’s walking. I won’t know until we practice.”

Which is exactly what Love and CBS will do over the next couple of months before his debut. Much like it did with Tony Romo for its football telecasts, the network will put Love through a boot camp of sorts, Love says, between now and the end of the year, with he and other members of the broadcast team watching tape, practicing and familiarizing themselves with working together and the mechanics of calling golf on television.

“I’m excited about that,” Love said. “They’re not just going to throw me to the wolves.”

As quickly as the news was announced that Love would be joining CBS after the contracts of Kostis and McCord weren’t renewed over the weekend, getting the Hall of Famer and two-time Ryder Cup captain on the team was something that had been in the works for years.

An admitted “TV geek,” Love has long been someone who has enjoyed hanging out at the production truck whenever he could during his years on tour. He’s also had what he figures are “hundreds” of dinners with Barrow. The two are so close that one person from another network said they weren’t even going to bother approaching Love about doing TV because it was assumed he was going to work with Barrow if and when the time came.

They were right.

When Love needed season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip in 2016, he started talking more seriously with Barrow about doing television. Then came a hip-replacement surgery in 2017. Love had also done work for CBS’ digital property at the Masters in recent years when he wasn’t playing in the tournament, and in the last few years, he said he has been watching the on-course television reporters and what they were doing, looking at how they positioned themselves while he was playing in tournaments.

“I knew that eventually I wanted to do it,” Love said. “I just didn’t know when. We’d been in talks for the last three years. It was just a matter of if I was ready to slow down [playing] and were they ready to make changes.”

During that time, Love began watching golf differently, too, analyzing what announcers and analysts were—and sometimes weren’t—saying, and when. He did the same with other sports, particularly football and baseball, taking mental notes on how Romo transitioned from the field to the booth alongside his now soon-to-be partner Jim Nantz, and how former pitcher John Smoltz, another friend who went from playing games to analyzing them, applied his knowledge of baseball and its players to the telecast.

So what kind of analyst will Love be?

“That’s one of the first questions that came up,” he said. “I have opinions. I just have to learn when to say things. [Retired NBC analyst] Johnny [Miller] was really good at [what to say and when to say it]. I learned a lot by watching him. My only problem is that I have to get my thoughts more concise.”

Don’t expect Love to be another Miller, though. Johnny was one of a kind.

That doesn’t mean Love won’t be critical when a moment warrants it, though.

“Even watching Tiger this past weekend [at the Zozo Championship], I was wondering why someone maybe didn’t say certain things,” he said. “And there have been times when I’ve called the truck when they missed something.”

It should help, too, that Love has relationships with many of today’s young players, through his two stints as Ryder Cup captain, the tour’s RSM Classic, which he is host of at Sea Island Golf Club, and through his 25-year-old son, Dru.

“I know the courses and the players, and there might be a situation when I might have played with a guy the week before and saw he was struggling with his chips, so I’ll be able to convey that,” Love said. “I’ll know what’s going on. That’s why Romo is so good. He went right from playing to the booth, and I’m going to talk to him about how I transfer that knowledge to the fans. He’s one of the best at it.”

To CBS, so is Love.

“Davis is one of the most accomplished and respected players in the game of golf,” Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, said in a statement. “With his playing experience, reputation and relationships across the golf community, he brings a unique perspective and insight that will enhance our broadcasts. Davis is the perfect fit for CBS, and we look forward to him making the best broadcast team in golf even better.”

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By Joel Beall
CBS Sports is seeking to shake up its golf presentation. Days after news broke that it was not renewing the contracts of analysts Peter Kostis and Gary McCord, the network has added a new voice to its lineup.

On Tuesday, CBS announced that Davis Love III is joining as a full-time analyst for the Masters, PGA Championship and PGA Tour coverage. Golf Digest’s Dave Shedloski broke the news on Monday that Love, who is close friends with CBS golf producer Lance Barrow, was in the mix for a position.

“I have long considered CBS Sports the gold standard in golf coverage,” Love said in a statement. “Whether playing or coaching, I have always loved the team aspect of golf, and I am thrilled to now be a member of the best team in television.”

Love is one of the more respected personalities in the sport. A 21-time tour winner and 1997 PGA champ, Love has served as captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team twice and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

Love said his playing days are not necessarily over—he’s in the field at this week’s alternate-event Bermuda Championship—but while he will play selective tournaments, his focus is “fully shifted” to broadcasting. Love, 55, will make his CBS debut at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open in January.

“Davis is one of the most accomplished and respected players in the game of golf,” said Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, in a statement. “With his playing experience, reputation and relationships across the golf community, he brings a unique perspective and insight that will enhance our broadcasts. Davis is the perfect fit for CBS, and we look forward to him making the best broadcast team in golf even better.”

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