Golf.com

What it was like watching Tiger Woods’ historic walk up 18 at St. Andrews, according to Mike Tirico

Jack Hirsh — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 14:35:08 +0000

In 25 years of broadcasting The Open Championship for ESPN/ABC and NBC, perhaps Mike Tirico’s most breathtaking moment came at the 150th edition last month at St. Andrews.

It was Tiger Woods’ walk up 18 at the end of his second round of what might have been his final Open appearance at The Home of Golf.

“That was one that you just wanted to take a step back — I’m glad I wasn’t on the air — and take it in,” Tirico told GOLF’s Subpar co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “Because you really do think, you know I may not see this again.”

News

‘I am excited to welcome a diverse field’: Tiger Woods launches new TGR Junior Invitational

By: Jack Hirsh

Tirico was just getting ready to start his coverage shift when he was coming from a booth near the 17th hole when he saw Woods finishing up on 17 and teeing off on 18. He added that he didn’t think Woods would tee it up in an Open at St. Andrews again.

“I wasn’t ready to say he absolutely will not. But I think all of us, when he walked over the bridge and didn’t stop and pause and look back, were like ‘Awh man!'” Tirico said. “But then to see him tear up as he got closer to 18, that was like, that was a lot of things.

“His appreciation for how much the people there appreciated him and all of he’s done.”

Woods notably did not stop for a final wave on the famed Swilcan Bridge, but Tirico said that his emotion at first was possibly overridden by his emotion for his poor play. Woods shot 78-75 to miss the cut.

“Especially Tiger, who knowing him, would have been pissed with what he was shooting,” Tirico said. “That overriding emotion keeps out the sadness, the tears, that kind of thing.”

With the R&A rumored to be not playing The Open at St. Andrews again until 2030, it seems likely this was Woods’ last visit to the Old Course.

But Tirico gave it a chance it wasn’t.

“He’ll still try, he’ll always still try,” he said.

To hear more of Mike Tirico’s sportscasting stories and observations on Tiger Woods, check out the full Subpar interview below.

The post What it was like watching Tiger Woods’ historic walk up 18 at St. Andrews, according to Mike Tirico appeared first on Golf.

Mike Tirico explains how LIV’s growth might actually help the PGA Tour

Tyler Zimmer — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 14:47:43 +0000

From Monday Night Football to the Open Championship, Mike Tirico can do it all.

“If you have ever turned on a television in the history of your life, you know this man coming here today,” GOLF’s Subpar co-host Drew Stoltz said.

Tirico made sports more entertaining for the last 35 years, bringing his boundless energy to every major event covered by ESPN and NBC. In doing so, he didn’t just research names, numbers, and statistics – he was privy to large-scale, structural changes in other sports, changes like the one we’re currently seeing in golf.

As a play-by-play broadcaster, it’s rarely Tirico’s job to offer his opinion, but that doesn’t mean he is without one. Particularly not on the topic of LIV Golf, and how the upstart league will affect the PGA Tour going forward.

“I think it’s going to force the PGA Tour to be better,” he said.

Politics aside, Tirico says, LIV Golf is simply a study in market forces. Now that there’s a competing tour, the PGA Tour will be forced to adapt. If they make the proper adjustments, the result will be better for everyone.

News

How Mike Tirico became the most qualified ‘amateur’ in Masters history

By: James Colgan

This, Tirico explained to co-hosts Drew Stoltz and Colt Knost, is the effect of the competitor: “It makes us better because you know that people are going to catch you.”

Champagne sprays, festival-like entertainment, and one very outspoken commissioner, LIV Golf couldn’t be more different from the Tour. The PGA Tour has already made significant purse increases to compete, but do they have to make other adjustments?

“Competition is good,” Tirico said. “Checks and balances are really good.”

But for commissioner Jay Monahan and the Tour’s executive leadership team, strategic questions remain. How much change is good? How much change leaves the Tour losing its identity?

No matter what changes we see in the coming months, Tirico sees it as an opportunity for the PGA Tour to grow, revamp, and reshape – not suffer.

To hear more of Mike Tirico’s sportscasting stories and observations on Tiger Woods, check out the full Subpar interview below.

The post Mike Tirico explains how LIV’s growth might actually help the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

GOLF's Subpar: Mike Tirico explains how LIV’s growth can actually help the PGA Tour

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 22:31:42 +0000

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 32-year sportscasting legend Mike Tirico who explains how LIV Golf competition can catalyze improvement on the PGA Tour.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

This week’s episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you’ve never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you.

Disclaimer: 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, NJ, NY, or WY. 1st online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (NJ, IA, IL), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY(467369) (NY), or 1-800-522-4700 (WY).

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Mike Tirico explains how LIV’s growth can actually help the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

GOLF's Subpar: Mike Tirico on what Tiger Woods’ LIV criticism revealed about his growth as a sports icon

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 22:18:58 +0000

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 32-year sportscasting legend Mike Tirico who explains why Tiger Woods’ criticism of LIV Golf showed about his growth as a sports icon.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Mike Tirico on what Tiger Woods’ LIV criticism revealed about his growth as a sports icon appeared first on Golf.

GOLF's Subpar: What it was like watching Tiger Woods’ historic walk up 18 at St. Andrews, according to Mike Tirico

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 22:08:10 +0000

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by legendary NBC sportscaster Mike Tirico who talks what it was like witnessing Tiger Woods’ historic walk up 18 at St. Andrews.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

The post GOLF’s Subpar: What it was like watching Tiger Woods’ historic walk up 18 at St. Andrews, according to Mike Tirico appeared first on Golf.

How Mike Tirico became the most qualified 'amateur' in Masters history

James Colgan — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 14:01:22 +0000

Rest assured, Mike Tirico is the most qualified amateur in Masters history. It just doesn’t seem like it.

On Thursday, when Tirico arrives at Augusta National, he will not join his fellow amateurs sleeping in the Crow’s Nest. His dinner plans next Wednesday evening — traditionally the night of Augusta National’s amateur welcome dinner — remain wide open. And then there’s the topic of his Augusta National tee time which, so far, is nonexistent.

But by far the biggest complication with Tirico’s Masters amateur candidacy is that, well, he isn’t one. Tirico, age 55, is perhaps the most professional sports media personality alive; a man whose individual skills as a television host, interviewer and play-by-play broadcaster would place him among the best in the world in each category. He has been going to Augusta for the better part of the last quarter-century; a tradition that began with ESPN at Tiger Woods’ historic win in 1997, and that has continued in more recent years with NBC. In 2022, he’ll also serve as SiriusXM’s voice of the Masters, calling the event for radio for the second time.

A short perusal through Masters history reveals Tirico will be the first to simultaneously reprise all three tournament broadcast roles (host, interviewer, play-by-player). Of course, Tirico is well-equipped to handle the load. Augusta National is famously obsessive over its precious hours of media exposure, and the club wouldn’t dare trust just any amateur. But when it comes down to calling the action, Tirico admits, the Masters is its own beast entirely.

“It’s probably the most unique set of circumstances to call an event for a play-by-play announcer,” Tirico told the Hot Mic. “Because of the location, number of competitors and number of balls in the air at the same time. Also, the variety of people you’re working with: on-course reporters, analysts, hole announcers. It provides the most unique set of circumstances in the collective of any sport.”

News

3 iconic Augusta National holes altered ahead of 2022 Masters

By: James Colgan

As it turns out, calling the Masters is a bit like competing in it. Those with experience and institutional knowledge find themselves at a heavy advantage.

For those without experience and institutional knowledge? Much like the amateurs — start practicing, studying … and hoping.

“I can be more anticipatory in other sports, because you’re watching it play out in front of you,” Tirico said. “Whereas in golf, if you’re calling off a monitor, you have to pay attention to 13, 12, 10, before you get to 18. You’re watching a few different holes. You’re not gonna see everything play out as it leads up to getting on the air.

In football, I can watch while the analysts are doing a replay, ‘Who’s coming in? Who’s going out?’ In hockey, I can look away to see a line change. In basketball, out of fastbreak, I can see the coach gesturing on the other side to replace the point guard who just turned it over,” he continued. “There’s so many things in golf that are different. I think golf is done now at such a high level that people don’t appreciate it nearly as much as they would. It’s the one sport that if you sit in the production truck and watch it, you’ll never watch it the same.”

The medium is an added wrinkle. It’s not entirely uncommon for top-flight TV sports broadcasters to add radio assignments, but there’s a difference between the two platforms. For broadcasters, calling an event for radio is a bit like speaking in a dialect — radio requires a more active hand (utilizing precise verbiage to describe action); while TV is more about steering the broadcast’s direction and tenor.

“I still absolutely would consider myself a complete amateur at this part of broadcasting because I’ve only done it once,” Tirico said. “But I listen in the car on a regular basis. I’m always really impressed with how well you can follow golf on the radio. You really can do it and keep the listener captivated.”

In his first Masters radio broadcast, Tirico’s voice painted a small piece of golf history. It was 2019, and Tirico watched for millions of listeners as Woods charged down the back nine at Augusta National to capture his fifth green jacket. But in some ways, that experience did little to prepare him for this year’s event. It’s easy to grab an audience when the greatest player in a generation is contending in unthinkable fashion, but what about when there’s a 12-way tie at two under midday Thursday?

“It was almost as if everyone around us sensed that they were about to see history happen,” Tirico admits.

“It was almost like you could sense history was going to happen,” Tirico said. Getty Images

Then again, that’s every Masters. The history and the incredulity are a part of tournament lore. That’s part of the challenge for Tirico, but it’s also part of the fun.

“It’s the most disappointing thing for broadcasters because we want to be able to describe things in perfect detail,” Tirico says. “When you get to Augusta, invariably the first thing you say is ‘Oh my goodness, it is more hilly than I ever saw.’ Right? You look, and you go ‘oh my goodness.'”

Between his roles for NBC and SiriusXM, it’s possible no one’s voice will cover more hours from the Masters than Tirico’s. It’s also possible no one’s voice is better equipped to tell the story of tournament week.

“It’s the only job that people will tell you, ‘I can nap while you’re working,’ and it’s supposed to be a compliment,” Tirico says with a laugh. “While the Masters is one of the most important events that you broadcast in any sport, it’s also one of the easier ones because of the inherent knowledge of the place and of the people. Anytime you can be involved with Augusta National, it’s an easy yes. You don’t have to ask for time to think about it.”

Not too shabby … for an amateur.

The post How Mike Tirico became the most qualified ‘amateur’ in Masters history appeared first on Golf.