{"id":15554261,"date":"2024-12-04T12:19:45","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T17:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golf.com\/?post_type=article&p=15554261"},"modified":"2024-12-04T14:34:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T19:34:59","slug":"kevin-kisner-nbc-sports-lead-analyst-search","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/golf.com\/news\/kevin-kisner-nbc-sports-lead-analyst-search\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Kisner named NBC Sports lead analyst after yearlong search"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NBC Sports has a new lead voice, and his name is Kevin Kisner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a yearlong search, NBC announced Wednesday that Kisner will become the new lead analyst of its golf coverage, ending the revolving door in the lead booth following Paul Azinger’s departure in December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kisner, an 18-year PGA Tour pro, will keep limited PGA Tour playing privileges as part of the agreement, allowing him the freedom to play out the remainder of his Tour eligibility while still completing a full-time broadcast schedule. According to an NBC press release, the agreement will see Kisner in the booth for NBC Sports’ coverage of the U.S. Open, Open Championship and Ryder Cup in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kisner appeared to be NBC’s preferred choice for the lead role since at least February, when he stepped into the booth for a handful of well-received stints in the lead chair at the Sentry, WM Phoenix Open and Players Championship. The question, it seemed, centered around if Kisner wanted to hand over the final days of his professional playing career to take the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longtime pro told The Hot Mic <\/em>in January that he had “no plans” to retire<\/a> for a golf TV job, but acknowledged that the realities of pro golf might eventually push him in that direction. In April, he told The Loop <\/em>podcast<\/a> that after further reflection, he’d decided he wasn’t ready to leave pro golf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t played well in two years, and I don\u2019t really want to go out like that, to be honest with you,\u201d Kisner said. \u201cI feel like I can still compete with the guys if I\u2019m playing well, which I haven\u2019t played what I consider well yet. So it\u2019s kind of a test to myself to see, how hard can you work to figure it out<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Kisner’s indecision appeared to put NBC in a bind. The network parted ways with Azinger acrimoniously just months earlier after five up-and-down years, and (perhaps smartly) wanted to avoid rushing to name a replacement. As such, NBC waited until May to announce Brandel Chamblee as lead analyst for its biggest broadcast of 2024, the U.S. Open, and Luke Donald for its second<\/em>-biggest broadcast, the Open Championship. As part of those announcements, NBC said it would spend the remainder of 2024 experimenting with a series of lead voices under a new “odd-even” telecast structure. Based on the hole number, the new structure would alternate broadcasting duties between two sets of analysts and play-by-play broadcasters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC Sports executive producer and head of golf production Sam Flood said then that the network could \u2014 and likely would <\/em>\u2014 wait until the offseason to hire a full-time voice.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think if we find the right person [we\u2019ll hire someone full-time],\u201d Flood said. \u201cBut right now, we think for the audience, they\u2019re benefiting by hearing all this different perspective. And it\u2019s kind of fun every week to figure out who\u2019s going to be on and how it all meshes together. For the rest of this year, we\u2019ve got this going on \u2014 but who knows what\u2019s going to happen next year?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Wednesday’s announcement, Kisner becomes just the third full-time lead analyst for NBC since the Clinton Administration, stepping into a role long dominated by major championship winners (which Kisner is not). Rather, the 40-year-old pro and four-time PGA Tour winner will look to define the next generation of golf broadcasters, leaning on his well-regarded sense of humor, relationships with pro golfers and familiarity with social media to ingratiate himself to a new generation of golf fans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By keeping his PGA Tour privileges, Kisner could theoretically change his broadcasting schedule considerably with a victory. But playing in events could also allow Kisner to serve a role similar to longtime CBS Sports analyst Gary McCord, who spent the formative years of his broadcast career pitching into CBS telecasts on weekends following missed cuts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I won next week, I\u2019d probably be like, \u2018alright, I might be done.’\u201d Kisner said in April. \u201cI just want to prove to myself that I\u2019m not going out like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the press release, Kisner will slide next to longtime NBC Sports play-by-play voice Dan Hicks in the lead chair in 2025. Over the summer, Flood expressed his desire to bring back Hicks, who was on an expiring contract in 2024. Now, it seems, Hicks is back in the play-by-play chair, and with a new partner to boot.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Kevin Kisner was named NBC Sports’ newest lead analyst, ending the network’s yearlong search to replace Paul Azinger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15554262,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-12-04T17:19:49Z","apple_news_api_id":"c99f725f-1cf8-473e-aff0-8694f8d1473a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-12-04T19:35:03Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AyZ9yXxz4Rz6v8IaU-NFHOg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[37],"tags":[62007,62159,59627,63178],"class_list":["post-15554261","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hotmic","tag-kevinkisner","tag-nbc","tag-nbcsports"],"acf":{"tee_time_button_status":false,"wsotp_enable_one_time_payment":false,"wsum-gated-content":false,"enable_chirp_widget_integration":false,"allow_instaread_integration":false,"ad_meta":false,"article_template":"standard","featured_image_caption":"NBC 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