NBC names analyst for FedEx Cup Playoffs

Incredibly, NBC Sports has gone the entire PGA Tour season without naming a replacement for Paul Azinger after he was taken out of the broadcast booth last year. But in the process, they may have discovered an entirely new way to broadcast televised golf.

On Thursday, NBC revealed that the ping pong balls in their lead analyst lottery brought up Kevin Kisner’s name for their last major PGA Tour events of the season in the FedEx Cup Playoffs including the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake.

Kisner was featured earlier in the season as the lead analyst for the season-opening Sentry tournament in Hawaii as well as the prestigious Players Championship. However, it was Brandel Chamblee ( US Open ) and Luke Donald ( British Open ) that called NBC’s two majors this year.

Equally as interesting is that NBC will continue using their dueling broadcast booth setup for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Kisner will be alongside Dan Hicks, presumably calling the even holes while Terry Gannon replaces Mike Tirico alongside Brad Faxon, presumably calling the odd holes.

Via NBC Sports :

Four-time PGA TOUR winner Kevin Kisner will serve as an analyst for NBC Sports’ coverage of the PGA TOUR FedExCup Playoffs, including the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga.

Kisner will work alongside play-by-play commentator Dan Hicks while Brad Faxon will serve as an analyst with play-by-play commentator Terry Gannon throughout NBC Sports’ FedExCup Playoff coverage.

Kisner made his debut as an analyst on NBC Sports’ PGA TOUR coverage at the 2024 season opener at The Sentry at Plantation Course at Kapalua. Kisner also served as an analyst at the WM Phoenix Open and The PLAYERS Championship and joined Smylie Kaufman for “Happy Hour” coverage at TPC Scottsdale’s raucous 16th hole and TPC Sawgrass’ iconic 17th hole during those events.

Kisner’s work has been well regarded in the NBC booth and when he’s joined Smylie Kaufman for the network’s much more relaxed “Happy Hour” coverage. While it’s hard to say that any of the analysts NBC has tried out this year have separated themselves from the pack, Kisner has been one of the best.

Throughout this experimental process, NBC has developed this odd/even approach to golf broadcasting. As the network has gone through the year, they have shifted to having two play-by-play and analyst pairs instead of the traditional setup of various hole announcers with one main analyst. Clearly the network likes what they have with the unique format and are comfortable bringing in different voices for different tournaments. If NBC moves into a second year without naming a lead analyst, we may be convinced that the rotation is permanent rather than temporary.

[ NBC Sports ]

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