PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) \u2014 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, \u201cIt’s just not a fair fight,\u201d when Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots.<\/p>\n
Television viewers haven’t heard the last of Maltbie.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something I am really looking forward to, working with Jim Nantz and the CBS team, because it\u2019s something I\u2019ve never done before,\u201d Maltbie told Golf Digest. \u201cWe\u2019ve been on opposite deals, so that\u2019s going to be interesting. You know, this is what I like to do. And I do what I\u2019m told to do. Maybe that\u2019s why they still use me some.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The other tournaments are Bay Hill and The Players Championship.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited that they still want me to do this, and I guess they feel like I am still someone viewers want to listen to,\u201d said Maltbie, 74, who first worked TV at the 1989 Ryder Cup. \u201cThe bottom line is that I want to keep going because I\u2019m a fan of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gotterup finally going to Augusta<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the others were Dave Hill in 1968 and Mark Wilson in 2011.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Wilson qualified for the Masters by winning the Sony Open in 2011, and then he won the Phoenix Open a month later.<\/p>\n
Hill won four times in the 1960s, a time when the Masters was heavy on major champions, invitations and amateurs.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
This year’s Masters, meanwhile, has four American professionals who have yet to win on the PGA Tour \u2014 Sam Stevens, Johnny Keefer, Max Greyserman and Jacob Bridgeman.<\/p>\n
Glover on the mend<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cRehab went great, strength, everything good, but I was still having pain in my swing,\u201d Glover said. \u201cTurns out I had some nerve issues. The scar tissue was pinching on the nerve in pretty much the same location as the labrum.\u201d<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played through it, and it would come and go,\u201d Glover said of the pain. \u201cAbout the spring of \u201825, it didn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The upside to surgery?<\/p>\n
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\u201cOne thing I’m not going to have to worry about in my 50s,\u201d Glover said.<\/p>\n
The Patch to reopen in April<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n