Last summer, a lightbulb went off in Johnson Wagner\u2019s head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was then that longtime CBS Sports golf analyst Ian Baker-Finch announced his retirement<\/a> after 19 years with the network. The void was eventually backfilled by on-course reporter Colt Knost, who now assumes a seat in the tower alongside host Jim Nantz, lead analyst Trevor Immelman and fellow analyst Frank Nobilo. But Johnson, a three-time PGA Tour winner-turned television star with Golf Channel, saw a life-changing opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing how much I love the broadcast world, the pinnacle of that for a former player would be to get on a network team, and those jobs don\u2019t open very often,\u201d Wagner told Sports Illustrated. \u201cSo when Ian left, I thought that was a good opportunity to strike.\u201d<\/p>\n Wagner was still under contract with Golf Channel for the rest of the year, so the process began \u201cslowly and carefully.\u201d In December it became official: Wagner, 45, would join CBS<\/a> and slide into Knost\u2019s former role, while also contributing to the network\u2019s digital platforms. Wagner kicks off his new role this weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open<\/a>, CBS\u2019s first telecast of the PGA Tour season.\u00a0<\/p>\n The excitement\u2014and not just from Wagner\u2014is palpable.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCBS golf has always been a tapestry, with a blend of a lot of different perspectives and voices,\u201d Nantz said in a conference call Tuesday. \u201cI\u2019ve had the chance for 40 years now being around the Tour to get to know virtually all the players who have any kind of tenure and extended experience. And though I didn\u2019t have a super tight relationship with Johnson at the time, I was around him enough to know and cover some of his highest moments, but I knew that he had a unique ability to express himself. So, I\u2019ve loved watching as a viewer, and I\u2019m thrilled to have him join this CBS team. It\u2019s going to give us one more different kind of look at the world of golf, and I think he\u2019s going to be a wonderful addition.\u201d<\/p>\n A star is born<\/p>\n Wanger\u2019s foray into broadcasting came in the early 2010s at TPC Boston\u2019s Deutsche Bank Championship, when Peter Jacobson of NBC and Golf Channel asked Wagner to film a \u201cJake\u2019s Take\u201d segment in which the native Texan turned New Yorker would speak with a Boston accent. Wagner, however, didn\u2019t realize at the time how monumental that moment would be.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just laughed and had a good time on camera,\u201d Wagner says, \u201cand when we were off, Peter said, \u2018Hey, keep winning, keep doing what you\u2019re doing, but know that you have a real future in TV when your playing career is done.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, he sort of planted that seed.\u201d <\/p>\n He got a call in the fall of 2022 from his friend and former high school golf teammate, Kevin Ryan, a researcher for Golf Channel. Wagner\u2019s name had popped up in a production meeting, and since Ryan had a connection to the 12-year Tour veteran, he was tasked to call Wagner that afternoon to see if he\u2019d like to buzz into the Stamford, Conn., studio for a trial taping of \u201cGolf Central.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI jumped at the chance, fell in love with it that week and really never looked back or thought about playing again,\u201d says Wagner, whose final Tour start came at the 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. \u201cBecause at that point, making a cut was a miracle, and I\u2019ve found a new passion where I could see growth.\u201d<\/p>\n His trajectory indeed soared from there, morphing into a media \u201cswiss army knife.\u201d In addition to studio analysis, he did color commentating in the booth at Tour events, dabbled as a walking reporter and contributed to SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. However, his career\u2014and life\u2014changed at the 2024 Players Championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n On a post-round airing of \u201cLive From,\u201d arguably Golf Channel\u2019s signature show, Wagner did a live segment in which he tried to recreate one of Xander Schauffele\u2019s chips from earlier that day\u2014and proceeded to botch three consecutive attempts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Afterward, Wagner thought he\u2019d endure a public shaming on social media. Instead, it was a lauded viral moment.\u00a0 So from then on, during every episode of \u201cLive From,\u201d the reenactments of the day’s most consequential and\/or bizarre shots became must-watch TV. Players sometimes joined him, including Bryson DeChambeau<\/a>, after winning the \u201824 U.S. Open. And last year, Wagner traveled to four sites of Tiger Woods\u2019s most iconic shots<\/a> from his historic 2000 season (successfully mimicking Woods\u2019s 20-foot birdie putt that won him that year\u2019s PGA Championship).\u00a0<\/p>\n Re-creating Xander Schauffele’s chip shot on the 4th, @Johnson_Wagner<\/a> got the yips LIVE on air. \ud83d\ude43\ud83d\udc80<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa: Golf Central Live From the #PGAChamp<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/fXhCURrn6N<\/a><\/p>\n