Credit: The Pat McAfee Show
By Drew Lerner on

CBS Sports’ lead golf announcer Jim Nantz was in the headlines last week over comments he made during a Masters preview press call about LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau.

On the call, Nantz mentioned that he had not seen DeChambeau play at all this season, citing his own commitments covering the PGA Tour for CBS. In context, however, Nantz’s comments were complimentary towards DeChambeau.

“Scottie [Scheffler], since he won in January, has been that strange kind of un-Scottie-like starts to tournaments where he rallies late. But I think if you had to pick one guy, that would be the guy, and probably right behind him would be Bryson,” Nantz responded to a question about who he sees as a contender to slip on the green jacket on Sunday. “Just given his recent track record. I have to confess, I have not seen Bryson hit a single shot this year. I have not seen him, so for me to say what his form looks like, all I can go off is the YouTube videos I’ve watched with my son. That’s all I’ve seen. Busy doing our own coverage, so I haven’t seen him play. But I know his desire to win there. I know Bryson quite well through the years, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him in a Green Jacket one day.”

Many outlets ran with the comments, omitting context, which made it seem as though Nantz was taking a shot at the LIV Golf league.

On Monday, Nantz appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and addressed how his words were misconstrued.

“I was on a press conference call last week, and a lot of people took exception to a statement I made about how Bryson, I haven’t watched a shot so far this year,” Nantz began. “Of course, he’s been winning on the LIV tour; he’s won a couple of starts. And I just want to say that was extracted from a quote where I had him as the favorite behind Scottie, number one. And then Bryson, I happened to mention, I have a long relationship with Bryson. He’s been to my home, my son was almost named after him. I mean, there’s a great friendship and respect there. And I said this too, I think he’s going to win in August. Maybe it’s this year, he’s certainly coming in hot.”

“I’ve got my own stuff going on,” Nantz continued. “We’re broadcasting. The point is, I read everything. I don’t have to sit down and watch the DP World Tour to be prepared for those players, or the LIV Golf. But I give them their due, and I expect Jon Rahm’s coming in playing well too, I expect both Jon and Bryson will be right there, both great guys, and I would love to have them on the leaderboard.”

Pat McAfee, true to form, then interjected with a joke about how he thought it was only his show that had quotes taken out of context.

“You’ve got all these bots, and LIV has a pretty strong force of a social media team from what I hear, because I’m not on social media,” Nantz explained. “But if you say anything that could be loosely interpreted as negative, they come after you. And that’s fine. I stood by my comments. I wasn’t trying to take a shot at Bryson. I have, like I said, I have a great regard for him. I consider him a friend and I consider him a favorite for this week.”

It wouldn’t be the first time the media turned a nothing-burger comment into a something-burger. Though it is certainly reasonable to expect Nantz had at least watched DeChambeau play some professional golf prior to the Masters, especially considering he’s one of the favorites this week, both in Nantz’s eyes and the eyes of the Las Vegas bookkeepers.

In any case, Nantz clearly wasn’t trying to cast aspersions upon Bryson DeChambeau or LIV Golf. He was just being candid. And that’s certainly better than lying and claiming to have watched extensive DeChambeau tape when he hasn’t.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner