Last month, the legendary Verne Lundquist had to fight back tears as he said goodbye in his final Masters broadcast for CBS.
Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa, the final pairing of Masters Sunday, finished the 16th hole and made their way to 17. And as the telecast went to break, host Jim Nantz thanked Lundquist, his good friend and longtime colleague, who called 40 Masters and spent the majority of them as the mainstay analyst on the par-3 16th tower at Augusta National.
“Verne wrote a book back in 2018 called ‘Play by Play,’” Nantz said. “In the last line of the book that you wrote, Verne, I want to apply it to you. You said thanks, to borrow a phrase, thanks for the memories. Your voice has been a beautiful instrument. Thank you for a wonderful soundtrack for all of our lives.”
“Thank you so much, Jim,” an emotional Lundquist said. “It’s my honor, my privilege.”
Lundquist recently joined fellow broadcasters Peter Kostis and Gary McCord on their “Kostis & McCord: Off Their Rockers” podcast, a GOLF Production, to talk about his time calling the Masters, his favorite moments, saying goodbye to Tiger Woods and more.
But he also threw out a name of the person he believes should take his spot on 16.
“I have a personal favorite, and I’ve got no dog in this hunt anymore,” Lundquist said. “I mentioned it to Jim Nantz, and I’ll put it out here with you guys and see what your reaction is. I would love to see Frank Nobilo at 16. I just think he’s a fresh face; he’s a really terrific guy. I mentioned it to Jim. I haven’t mentioned it to [CBS Golf lead producer] Sellers [Shy] nor to [CEO] David Berson, who took Sean [McManus’] place, but we’ll see.”
Nobilo, 63, is well-known in the golf-broadcasting world. A longtime member of Golf Channel’s “Live From” alongside Brandel Chamblee and Rich Lerner, Nobilo left NBC for a role as golf analyst with CBS in December 2019.
“That’s going to be very interesting [who they hire],” Kostis said. “I spent 10 years on 10, I spent 13 years on 13, and I spent seven years on 15. It’s completely changed. I don’t know what they are going to do in the future, but much like someone replacing Don Shula or Bill Belichick as coach as the Dolphins or Patriots, the next man up has big shoes to fill. So whoever the hell goes to 16, they’d better be pretty damn good.”
You can listen to the entire interview with Lundquist below.
