NBC Sports made official what Golfweek previously reported: Brandel Chamblee will serve as lead analyst of this week’s PGA Tour event, the Texas Children’s Houston Open .
Chamblee, 61, is widely regarded as either the best or the worst commentator in golf – depending who you ask – and best known for his commentary on Golf Channel’s “Live From” show at the majors and other PGA Tour sites. Back to his playing days on the Tour, he was always considered one of the best quotes and never without an insightful comment no matter the topic. This will mark the second time Chamblee has filled in as lead analyst for the network since Paul Azinger’s contract wasn’t renewed late last year. Chamblee also handled these duties at the American Express when Nick Dunlap became the first amateur champ on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson.
NBC has rotated through a series of former players and even caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay as it seeks a full-time replacement. Golfweek spoke to Chamblee during the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this month about the role of lead analyst, his interest in the job, what made Johnny Miller so good and who he’d like to see get the job — it may surprise you.
GWK: How do you think the live broadcasts will be different with you in the 18th tower, and can you be yourself as much in that role?
BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: I wouldn’t say how do I think it will be different. I don’t know that it will be different. I think to the degree that I’m going to do some live golf, they want me to be myself. They want me to 100 percent be the same person I am on Live From.
Obviously the nature of the job is different. On Live From, I do 90-second breakdowns. Live golf, you do five seconds to nine seconds, five to nine-word groups.
GWK: Do you think you'd get the same level of satisfaction out of being the 18th-hole analyst that you get whipping opinions out?
BC: Yeah, I do. I think the challenges of that job are tremendous. To know 150 players pretty completely, between his name, nuances, faces, shot shapes, coaches, highs and lows and to be able to expound on them, get in, get out quickly, that’s a hell of a challenge.
GWK: Who do you think should get the job and why?
Tiger Woods of the United States waits on the first green during the second round of The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 16, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
BC: Well, I think there are several people that can do that job. It’s a very hard job, and by the way, it’s very hard to follow Johnny Miller. Following Johnny Miller in that role is like following Robin Williams on stage. It’s just not going to look good no matter who you are because Johnny was a god at that role, and I think that was probably – it’s going to be troubling for anybody in that role.
I listened to Luke Donald, and I thought he was terrific. I’ve heard that Geoff Ogilvy may or may not want to do it, but if he wanted to do, I think he’d be terrific.
The people that would be good in that role, they’re articulate, they’re thoughtful, but they have to hunger for it. They have to want it. hey have to work their butt off at it the way Johnny did.
You go back and you listen to telecasts, and I do this a lot, and most of the time when you’re watching golf you’re paying attention to the golf, and the commentating, it’s not the focus of the show. The golf is the focus of the show, as it should be.
But if you actually go watch telecasts and you make the commentating the focus, and I watch a lot of shows this way, how many times Johnny correctly predicts what’s about to happen or gives brilliant five to nine-word summations of what just happened, it’s incredible.
To be able to do that, you’ve got to do your homework. You’ve got to hunger for it.
Whoever ends up sitting in that chair permanently, it’s not enough that they have played the game at a high level. It’s not enough that they’re articulate. It’s not enough that they’re opinionated even. They’ve got to work their butt off at it to bring all that together.
Again, I think Luke Donald would be tremendous at it. I don’t know if he wants to do it. He sounded great last week when I listened to him. I think Ogilvy would be great.
If Tiger ever wants to do it, he’ll be tremendous. Paul Azinger is a friend of mine, and he reached out to me when he didn’t get renewed, and I immediately started thinking, I wonder who’s going to fill that chair. My first thought was Tiger. I don’t know if Tiger would want to do it but he would know the courses, he would know the players. He plays with all these young guys, so he knows their games, knows the courses. I mean, it would be a tremendous boon for the game of golf if Tiger wanted to do it. I’d certainly love to listen to him. The thing with TV is you just never know who’s going to be right for that role. You just don’t know.
GWK: We'll probably never know because they defected to LIV but who do you think would have been better on TV, Ian Poulter or Graeme McDowell?
Graeme McDowell reacts during a press conference ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational Series event at The Centurion Club in St Albans, north of London, on June 7, 2022. (Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
BC: Oh, I think G-Mac would have been great. G-Mac is really articulate. He’s a smart guy. I think he worked at the game a lot so he understood it, would be able to communicate it with the audience. Poulter could have been good at it, as well, but when I listen to G-Mac talk, I think he’s a really sharp guy.
