{"id":41953,"date":"2025-08-04T03:59:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T03:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/41953\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T03:59:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T03:59:25","slug":"ian-baker-finch-signs-off-for-last-time-amid-tears-praise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/41953\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Baker-Finch signs off for last time amid tears, praise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo win these days, you\u2019ve got to have a bit of bastard in you,\u201d David Leadbetter<\/a> said many years ago, referring to one of his best-known students.<\/p>\n

That was the problem, the instructor continued. Ian Baker-Finch<\/a> didn\u2019t have the slightest traces of that.<\/p>\n

On Sunday afternoon, roughly three decades removed from Leadbetter\u2019s remarks, Baker-Finch\u2019s character was once more a topic of golf-world conversation. This time around, though, his kindness was celebrated as a strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you think of Ian Baker-Finch being in your home the last thirty years, and I know it\u2019s a great feeling having him as a friend from far away,\u201d CBS\u2019 Jim Nantz<\/a> said. \u201cWhatever you thought he was like, it\u2019s ten times better. He\u2019s one of the the great people all of us at CBS will ever know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nantz was speaking from the tower behind 18 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. Out on the course, frontrunner Cameron Young had stripped the Wyndham Championship <\/a>of its subplots. Though players were still jockeying for FedEx Cup<\/a> position, the more compelling story was unfolding in the booth, where Baker-Finch sat alongside Nantz (and fellow commentators Trevor Immelman and Frank Nobilo), choking back tears.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you keep up with golf headlines, you know that this was bound to be a weepy broadcast. It was all but guaranteed after Baker-Finch announced on July 22 that this week\u2019s tournament would be his last in headsets, marking the end of a 30-year career in television, including the last 19 years with CBS Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cI carry with me immense gratitude and pride for the moments we\u2019ve shared on and off the course. Here\u2019s to new adventure and the enduring love of golf,\u201d Baker-Finch wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, leading figures in the game returned that love. Throughout the broadcast, as Young\u2019s lead swelled to as many as nine shots, CBS beamed in a stream of well-wishes. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was among those chiming in, hailing Baker-Finch as \u201ca cherished voice in golf\u201d who brought \u201cinsight, connection and a deep love of the game to millions of fans.\u201d On social media, Tiger Woods congratulated \u201cFinchy\u201d for shedding light on matters \u201cthat the viewing audience could understand and relate to. From all of us \u2013 thanks for the memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congrats Finchy for 30 incredible years behind the microphone. You brought insight into things that the viewing audience could understand and relate to. From all of us \u2013 thanks for the memories.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) August 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Any full-fledged recollection of Baker-Finch must also cover moments from his playing career, which peaked in 1991 with his Open Championship win at Royal Birkdale, only to dip into a devastating spiral. In a quest to get longer off the tee, the easy-swinging Australian lost his game. The low points were legion, but none drew more attention than the shocking shot he struck at the 1995 Open Championship. Playing alongside Arnold Palmer, Baker-Finch snapped-hooked his opening drive across the 18th fairway and out of bounds on a trajectory that would have made a 30-index blush. That same year, Baker-Finch endured what ranks among the cruelest seasons ever in professional golf. In 24 tournaments, he missed every cut and broke par only twice. He shot in the 80s once in every four rounds. The former major champ had become an agonizing cautionary tale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But even as he struggled, Baker-Finch retained a graciousness about him, granting interviews and signing autographs. The son of a farmer, raised modestly in rural Australia (during Sunday\u2019s broadcast, Nantz mentioned that Baker-Finch didn\u2019t get his first set of clubs until he was 12), he cut a warm and humble profile \u2014 characteristics that became a hallmark of his second career.<\/p>\n

Throughout his broadcast run, which began with part-time stints in 1995, Baker-Finch proved himself to be no Johnny Miller. \u201cChoking\u201d wasn\u2019t big in his vocabulary. In Baker-Finch\u2019s telling, poor shots were more apt to be blamed on a bad lie or a bad break than they were on suffocating pressure. Being withering was not his thing.<\/p>\n

Nor was he merely nice to players, according to Golf Channel anchor Damon Hack. In a text to Golf.com, Hack said that he had vivid memories of his first encounter with Baker-Finch more than a decade ago at the RCB Heritage on Sea Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing early coverage and was relatively new in the tournament interview role,\u201d Hack said. \u201cEveryone was nice but Ian stood out. Came over to chat and just had this decency about him. Big man with a big network role, but you wouldn\u2019t have known it. He was just a good guy chopping it up with a college. I\u2019ve never forgotten it.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

During the Wyndham Championship, Baker-Finch\u2019s brethren in the booth echoed that theme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outpouring of love and respect that you\u2019ve received over the last two weeks is just a testament to the great man that you are,\u201d Immelman said.<\/p>\n

Added Nobilo: \u201cWe come from New Zealand and Australia, we\u2019re meant to be enemies.\u201d But since first crossing paths when they were both 19, the two men, Nobilo noted, \u201chave become great friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Most of all, I’m going to miss every Saturday and Sunday knowing I can count on seeing you and your smiling face”<\/p>\n

A heartfelt message from Amanda Balionis to Ian Baker-Finch ahead of his retirement \ud83d\ude0a pic.twitter.com\/3UcPFDDUnP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Golf on CBS \u26f3 (@GolfonCBS) August 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

In announcing his retirement, Baker-Finch made it clear that he isn\u2019t done with golf. He plans to keep turning up at tournaments now and then, occasionally in a cameo broadcast role. But Sunday still felt like a swan song. In a closing gesture, as Cameron Young surveyed a birdie putt on 18, Nantz handed the call to Baker-Finch.<\/p>\n

Though Young missed the putt, then tapped in for par, leaving Baker-Finch little in the way of drama to describe, he still managed a fitting sign off.<\/p>\n

\u201cJim, it\u2019s been a fantastic pleasure all of these years,\u201d he said, with a lump in his throat. \u201cThanks to everybody in the trucks, the crew, everybody in the tower. It has been my honor to be part of this team.\u201d <\/p>\n

A nice guy to the end.<\/p>\n

\n Cameron Young interview after Wyndham win\n <\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Josh Sens<\/p>\n

Golf.com Editor<\/p>\n

A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF\u2019s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.<\/p>\n