Inside The PGA Championship

Including lots of drama from the green—and one missing trophy

- Matt Hendrickson

IF YOU’RE A GOLF FAN, CHANCES are Jim Nantz has been in your living room more than your friends. Nantz, who joined the CBS Sports golf team in 1986 (he became the anchor of the network’s golf coverage in 1994; he is also the lead play-by-play for the NFL and NCAA men’s basketball), was once again front and center for the 101st PGA Championship in May, marking the event’s permanent move from late summer to spring. Here, Nantz and Kerry Haigh, chief championships officer of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, take us through some tourney highlights.

1 John Daly plays football, then golf.

In 1991, newcomer John Daly took the surprise lead heading into the tournament’s final round. Daly was an unknown to the golfing world, and in the scramble to research him, Nantz learned that Daly had been a place-kicker for his high school football team. Word got out, and the Indianapolis Colts invited Daly to come to their preseason game to kick a field goal the night before the final PGA round. “They introduced him on the PA and the fans went crazy, and he drilled it from 40 yards,” recalls Nantz. “Can you imagine someone like Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson doing that the night before a final round? You could pull a muscle or blow out an Achilles and not even make it to the course.”

2 The tourney’s trophy goes missing.