As Mike Tirico gets set to call his 28th Open Championship as a broadcaster, Dan Patrick doesn\u2019t seem totally over the fact that it could have been him.<\/p>\n
Tirico joined The Dan Patrick Show Thursday morning to discuss the 154th Open Championship which is taking place this week and weekend at Royal Birkdale. And during the interview, Patrick reminded Tirico he was almost put in that same announcer\u2019s chair.<\/p>\n
When ABC held the rights to the prestigious golf major, they were tasked with replacing Brent Musburger as the Open Championship announcer in 1997. The network ultimately picked Tirico, but at the time, Patrick was in consideration for the role. And Patrick remembers making the four-minute walk to the studio for his 11pm SportsCenter, when he was abruptly stopped at 10:53pm by a boss who informed him the position was going to Tirico.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, couldn\u2019t this wait?\u201d Patrick recalled. \u201cI\u2019m gonna go do a SportsCenter! So I\u2019m doing the entire SportsCenter thinking about, \u2018Well, I didn\u2019t want the golf, but I would have loved to have the golf.\u2019 And now I\u2019m mad that I\u2019m not getting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The executive claimed USA Today was about to break the news about Tirico getting golf, so they wanted to make sure Patrick heard the decision from ESPN before he read about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cCouldn\u2019t you have told me before the story was going to break? Maybe 4 o\u2019clock in the afternoon? Unbelievable,\u201d Patrick lamented. \u201cIt will be in the book that I don\u2019t write.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad that you\u2019ve let it go,\u201d Tirico joked.<\/p>\n