Report: Greg Norman’s tenure at Fox is over after one year

The story surfaced Sunday evening and spread throughout the golf community. Links Magazine reports that Greg Norman has been dropped by Fox after working just one year with the network as its U.S. Open analyst:

Fox has yet to comment on this, but it appears that the story has some legs:

I have heard the same thing. Reached out to Fox Sports tonight. They declined comment. More will come soon. https://t.co/crVjMgvcsU

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) January 18, 2016

Norman was touted as Fox’s version of Johnny Miller as the network took over the rightsholder of the U.S. Open last year. But instead, Norman often sounded aloof and confused. And when it was time for a strong opinion, Norman often went silent.

Accorrding to Golf.com, a source close to Fox Sports said Norman’s performance puzzled the network, “he didn’t do his homework and he didn’t know any players who weren’t Australian.” In addition, the source said Norman was often unprepared:

“It was tough for the whole staff because he wasn’t involved in the shows like a lead analyst should be,” the source said. “Maybe he thought just being Greg Norman was enough. He’s been successful in everything he’s done in business but he wasn’t good at TV. He was a team player but when the cameras turned on, he just went silent.”

So it means that Joe Buck will need a new partner in the 18th tower at Oakmont Country Club this June and Fox could go in several directions. Brad Faxon who was one of the bright spots in Fox’s coverage could be one person who could take over as the main analyst or Fox could try to hire someone outside the network. Paul Azinger who worked on ESPN’s coverage of the Open Championship and was its co-lead analyst with Nick Faldo when it had the PGA Tour is another posible candidate.

Fox’s first year as rightsholder was very bumpy and was heavily criticized. Fox did say it would tweak things for 2016 and it appears that it’s taking the first step by taking Norman off its coverage.

So where this goes and where it stops, only Fox knows.

UPDATE: Fox has confirmed that it will part ways with Norman. Both Fox Sports President John Entz and Norman have issued statements on his departure:

“After careful consideration, we have decided to make this change to our USGA Championships coverage,” said John Entz. “We want to thank Greg for his contributions last year, and wish him success in all his current and future endeavors.”

“I put a lot into my role this past year and really enjoyed the time I spent with the commentary team,” said Norman. “I have a long history with FOX and wish them well on their journey showcasing USGA Championships. I also want to thank David Hill (former Head of FOX Sports) and the USGA for believing in me and instilling their vote of confidence in me from the outset.”

 

[Golf News Net/Golf.com]