Nick Faldo, a mainstay of golf broadcasting for the past 16 years, signed off on his final broadcast Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club, the site of his PGA Tour debut in 1979.
Jim Nantz, Faldo’s longtime CBS broadcast partner, and his colleagues Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo, celebrated his retirement (and his long career in the booth) with a standing ovation. When it was time for Faldo to speak, he was too choked up at first, breaking down in tears before saying goodbye and saying thank you.
After collecting himself, Faldo began by recounting the moment CBS asked him to join the golf broadcast, something he still remembers to this day.
“I was on a boat in Ireland and they called me and said, ‘How would you like to sit next to Jim Nantz?’ and I literally fell off the boat, I really did. That was 2006, and here we are 16 years later,” Faldo said.
He mentioned what Nantz, Baker-Finch and Nobilo mean to him, not only as co-workers and friends, but as family.
“I’m a lonely kid,” Faldo said. “And I have found, at the age of 65, three brothers. Thanks.”
Faldo also gave credit to the many hardworking crews he has worked with over the years.
“Thanks to the whole crew,” Faldo said. “As I affectionately and respectfully tell you the workers, they put up the images, we make the noise, we have an easy job. Thank you all.”
The PGA Tour put together a compilation of some of the best and funniest moments from Faldo’s broadcasting career.
This will be the first time in 46 years that Faldo will not play or broadcast golf professionally. He turned pro in 1976 at just 19 years old, and after winning 6 majors, signed a contract with CBS in 2006 as his professional playing career was coming to an end. Since then, he has become part of the natural rhythm and routine of golf, able to bring emotional force to important moments and bring laughs with his dry English wit.
Faldo told the broadcast that he and his wife plan to spend time at their farm in Montana. He even held up a book about keeping miniature cows as pets. Hopefully Faldo is enjoying his retirement, and presumably his miniature cows.
Nick Faldo, a CBS golf analyst for 16 years, retired Sunday with an emotional final broadcast. (Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)