PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — NBC and Golf Channel decided in 2023 not to renew the deal for Roger Maltbie, one of the more popular voices in golf. He is best known for his line, “It’s just not a fair fight,” when Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots.
Television viewers haven’t heard the last of Maltbie.
Golf Digest reported that Maltbie has a deal to work five PGA Tour events for Golf Channel, in his familiar spot on the ground on the weekdays and part of the lead-in coverage to the weekend. And some of the venues won’t be so familiar.
It starts this week at Pebble Beach, a special place for Maltbie, who grew up in the Bay Area. He also will be at the Memorial (this is the 50th anniversary of his win at Muirfield Village) and the new Cadillac Championship at Doral. Those are CBS productions. Maltbie’s entire career was at NBC.
“That’s something I am really looking forward to, working with Jim Nantz and the CBS team, because it’s something I’ve never done before,” Maltbie told Golf Digest. “We’ve been on opposite deals, so that’s going to be interesting. You know, this is what I like to do. And I do what I’m told to do. Maybe that’s why they still use me some.”
The other tournaments are Bay Hill and The Players Championship.
Maltbie signed a separate deal with NBC, as he has done in the past, to work the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship.
“I’m excited that they still want me to do this, and I guess they feel like I am still someone viewers want to listen to,” said Maltbie, 74, who first worked TV at the 1989 Ryder Cup. “The bottom line is that I want to keep going because I’m a fan of the game.”
Gotterup finally going to Augusta
Chris Gotterup is joining a small and most unusual group when he goes to Augusta National in April. He will be only the third player since World War II to have won four times on the PGA Tour before playing in the Masters for the first time.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the others were Dave Hill in 1968 and Mark Wilson in 2011.
Gotterup won in Myrtle Beach in 2024 for his first PGA Tour title, but that was an opposite-field event that doesn’t come with an automatic Masters invitation. He won the Scottish Open last July, which made him eligible for the Masters. And then he won the Sony Open and Phoenix Open.
Wilson won the 2007 Honda Classic for his first title, but it wasn’t until the following year the Masters returned to inviting winners of PGA Tour events that offered full FedEx Cup points. He won the Mayakoba Golf Classic in 2009 when it was held opposite the Match Play.
Wilson qualified for the Masters by winning the Sony Open in 2011, and then he won the Phoenix Open a month later.
Hill won four times in the 1960s, a time when the Masters was heavy on major champions, invitations and amateurs.
For example, the year after Hill won twice in 1961, Augusta National invited the top two players from the winter and fall schedule. He made his Masters debut in 1968, the year after he won the Memphis Open Invitational (fourth win) and tied for 11th in the PGA Championship.
This year’s Masters, meanwhile, has four American professionals who have yet to win on the PGA Tour — Sam Stevens, Johnny Keefer, Max Greyserman and Jacob Bridgeman.
Glover on the mend
Lucas Glover never looked happier than Monday at Pebble Beach, and for good reason. It was his first time walking 18 holes since Sunday of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley on Aug. 17.
Glover, 46, had surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder in September and planned to be back in time for the final event at Sea Island.
“Rehab went great, strength, everything good, but I was still having pain in my swing,” Glover said. “Turns out I had some nerve issues. The scar tissue was pinching on the nerve in pretty much the same location as the labrum.”
Six to eight weeks turned into four months. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am will be his first start of the year. Despite playing through a sore shoulder for the last two years, Glover still finished at No. 36 in the FedEx Cup to be eligible for the signature events.
“I played through it, and it would come and go,” Glover said of the pain. “About the spring of ‘25, it didn’t go, it kind of stayed. I had a good enough year I didn’t have to play the fall and thought it was a good time to get it done. The nerve setback was a surprise.”
The upside to surgery?
“One thing I’m not going to have to worry about in my 50s,” Glover said.
The Patch to reopen in April
The 98-year-old Augusta Municipal Golf Course, known as The Patch, will be open for public play April 15, three days after the Masters. There will be soft opening in mid-March for Patch regulars and high school teams, and it will be open for private hospitality groups during the Masters.
Augusta National was behind a 16-month renovation by Tom Fazio and Beau Welling, and Tiger Woods built a nine-hole short course called The Loop at The Patch.
Key to the project was keeping it accessible and affordable. The 18-hole walking rate for local residents is $25, up to $35 on Friday through Sunday. The Loop fee is $15 for local residents.
The practice range is 17 acres with a Trackman range and 20 covered bays. The Putting Course has a 12-hole routing for competition.
Harris honored
British photographer Matthew Harris, who has covered 150 majors and 20 Ryder Cups in a career that has taken him to more than 80 countries, is being honored with the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Photojournalism.
Harris will be honored April 8 in Augusta, Georgia, ahead of the Masters.
He covered his first European tour event at age 19 and began his 40-plus career at Golf Illustrated UK. His roots in photography date to 1974, when the 13-year-old Harris and his parents split the cost of a Pentax SP1000 camera. A year later, Harris earned second place in a photo competition for an image of Billie Jean King on the outside courts at Wimbledon.
He was there for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy each winning the Masters for the first time. The photo that propelled his career was Seve Ballesteros winning the 1984 British Open at St. Andrews.
Divots
Tuesday is the 20-year anniversary of Tiger Woods opening his first TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim, California. The lab has served more than 200,000 students. … The Epson Tour will offer 18-hole qualifying for three Florida events in March. Two players qualify. The tour said the field will be limited to 36 professionals. … Scottie Scheffler and Chris Gotterup have combined to win five of the last seven PGA Tour events when both were in the field. … Elvis Smylie went from No. 134 to No. 77 in the world ranking by winning LIV Golf Riyadh, the first event for which the Saudi-backed league was awarded ranking points.
Stat of the week
Anthony Kim earned $203,000 for his tie for 22nd at LIV Golf Riyadh. It was his largest tournament check since he made $293,105 for a tie for fifth in the 2011 British Open.
Final word
“I’ve always been so scared to talk about winning, being scared I’d jinx myself, but we actually talked about it last night. We said it’s actually OK to talk about it. We’re out here to win, we’re out here to get a PGA Tour card.” — James Nicholas after winning the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour for his first win in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
