Thursday, March 28

‘I’m ready’: Nick Faldo, golf world react to his retirement after 19 years as broadcaster


It’s the end of an era on the CBS broadcast.

After 16 years wearing the headset for the network, Sir Nick Faldo said goodbye from the booth during the final round of the 2022 Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Sunday. The six-time major champion, who has a deep history at Sedgefield dating back to his PGA Tour debut at the 1979 Greater Greensboro Open, was honored with a plaque behind the ninth green on the club’s Wall of Fame where he joins the likes of Charlie Sifford and Arnold Palmer.

“I blew it,” Faldo said as he teared up during his final segment on the broadcast before briefly collecting himself. “I was in a boat in Ireland, and they gave me a call and said, ‘How would you like to sit next to Jim Nantz?’ and I literally fell out the boat, I really did. That was 2006, and here we are 16 years later.”

“Thanks to all the crew,” he continued. “As I affectionately and respectfully call you the workers, they put the pictures out, we do the rattling, we have an easy job. Thank you all.

“I’m a single child and I’ve found, at 65, three brothers Thank you,” he said in reference to Nantz, Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo, who joined him in the booth for the final round. “I’m ready.”

The broadcast also featured a handful of messages from Faldo’s former and current colleagues both on and off the golf course, and it got to be pretty emotional at times. So much so that Dottie Pepper at one point joked, “Are you guys able to call this or do you want me to take it?”

Here’s how the golf world honored Sir Nick Faldo for his broadcast retirement.

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“I’ve got to give a shoutout to my good friend, Sir Nick Faldo, as he gets ready to start his final broadcast for CBS. I was very fortunate to meet Sir Nick when I was 15 years old. He took me under his wing, he’s been a mentor to me ever since through my playing career, starting on the European Tour and then the PGA Tour. And when I started broadcasting, he did the same. So, Nick, thanks so much for everything that you’ve done for me. Every time I sit in this chair, as lead analyst, I will be thinking of you. And I cannot wait to come and visit you and Lindsay at Faldo Farm. Thanks, my friend.”

Faldo Immelman

Nick Faldo and Trevor Immelman look on during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 10, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

“Nick, not everyone has a career like you, careers, golf and TV. Your record stands for itself. To really get to know Nick Faldo you’ve got to look at it in reverse. If you take a look at your broadcasting career you were bold enough to show everybody out there, including ourselves, really what’s inside your emotions. You weren’t scared to do that. Just as importantly when it came to playing golf, you were strong enough not to reveal them. So I just want to say, as a fellow broadcaster, as a fellow golfer, but more importantly as a friend, thanks mate.”

Ryder Cup

Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo and Nick Faldo are seen on the Golf Channel set prior to the start of The 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club on September 27, 2012 in Medinah, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

“Well Nick, the people, the places, the stories you had a chance to document, you did it with humor, humility, and humanity. And I think it’s fair to say that you let us see as a broadcaster what’s in your heart, much more than we did with your stoic manner as a player. May the sands of time be very kind to you, my friend.”

Faldo Nantz

CBS announcers Nick Faldo (L) and Jim Nantz in the broadcast booth at the 18th green during the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on the Poppy Hills Golf Course on February 10, 2007. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images)

“You’ve taught me so much, and for that I’m grateful. I’m honored to have my name sandwiched between yours on the Claret Jug, ’90-’91-’92, I look at that all the time with great pleasure. In the last two decades we’ve been paired together many times at various TV towers around the world, the last 16 years here at CBS. It’s been a great honor, and I’m sad to see you go, like all of us are here. Well old boy, perhaps we’ll have the chance to be paired together on the Gallatin River in Montana, with a fly rod instead of a golf club.”

Past champions Nick Faldo, Sam Snead, Ian Baker-Finch and Jason Leonard stand on the Swilken Bridge on the 18th fairway during the Past Champions Challenge at the 2000 British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo: Stephen Munday/ALLSPORT)



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