For years, Sir Nick Faldo was Jim Nantz’s right-hand man on CBS Sports. They called countless golf tournaments and Masters Tournaments.
He recently joined Golf.com’s Claire Rogers on her Scoop podcast, where she chats with people in the golf industry while they eat ice cream. Her latest guest was the six-time major winner who provided so many incredible stories.
However, his favorite memory of Nantz from their first Masters together may be the best story in the video.
“We’re still calling live golf through the internet, and we’re down to two minutes to go, and Tiger’s now going out, so, of course, we’re going to stay,” Faldo said. “We’re down to 30 seconds — the only time Jim has an autocue is maybe for those opening first lines of the Masters. That’s the only week.”
Nick Faldo’s favorite memory with Jim Nantz came during their first ever Masters together and it’s a perfect example of his brilliance.The Scoop with @Sir_NickFaldo and @kclairerogers is OUT NOW! pic.twitter.com/VGjlgDyXol
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 8, 2025
Faldo continues and explains that Nantz’s autocue went down with 30 seconds until they are live on CBS.
The legendary announcer gets up and goes toward the control room nonchalantly where they produce the show in Butler Cabin. Time continues to tick by, which causes the three-time Masters winner to start stressing out.
“Im sitting there and I hear 10 seconds. In the world of our worlds, five seconds is nothing, but in TV, five seconds is monstrous,” Faldo continues. “I hear five, and there’s no Jim Nantz.”
“I’m sitting there and I go, ‘Oh sh**, it’s going to be me. I’m going to go: Hello, I’m Jim Nantz, no, I’m not, I’m Nick Faldo. Well, I won this, maybe I didn’t. Uh, welcome to The Masters.’ I’m panicked. I had a split second of what the heck, and Nantz waltzes in, sits down, and goes, ‘Hello friends, welcome to The Masters.’ So that was my very first Master’s.”
Faldo’s storytelling was so animated that it was hilarious to watch. He acted out Nantz sitting down and not missing a beat to open the 2007 Masters. The story reminded us all that Nantz is truly a generational talent in play-by-play broadcast coverage.
Nantz is the GOAT of golf broadcasting, and maybe sports as a whole.
The 67-year-old Faldo retired from television after the 2022 PGA Tour season at the Wyndham Championship. He has made some appearances since he left the lead golf analyst role, but it has been sparingly.
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