Kevin Kisner serves as the lead analyst for NBC’s FedEx Cup Playoff coverage.
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Vegas players would have laughed you out of the room if you had told them back in late January that Kevin Kisner would serve as NBC’s lead analyst for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Not because Kisner was a long shot to land the leading gig. In fact, the exact opposite.
Fresh off hitting the road in Kapalua, Kisner’s runaway favorite status came with a few simple pros: He was young enough to hang on to the last vestiges of his playing career, well-connected enough to keep the broadcast in good play. class, and has enough talent to keep viewers entertained.
The only question surrounding his nomination seemed to be a foregone conclusion: Would he be willing to give up the millions that come with playing professional golf for the millions that come with broadcasting professional golf?
However, as the months went by, that question grew. Could it be that the longtime Tour pro wasn’t ready to hand over the reins to his playing career? In the early days, the most obvious hint of trepidation came not from Kisner but from NBC, which chose not to hire a replacement for the lead analyst role in the days and months following Kisner’s first. However, a few months after his debut, Kisner gave an interview Golf Digest The Loop podcast that laid down the law.
“I haven’t played well in two years, and I don’t really want to go out like that, to be honest with you,” Kisner said at the time. “I feel like I can still compete with the boys if I play well, which I haven’t yet and I think it’s good. So it’s kind of a test for me to see, hhow hard can you work to get it?”
Indeed, Kisner wasn’t ready to give up professional golf until he gave his college career one last try, leaving NBC in a strange kind of purgatory. Should they pursue a new lead analyst, or should they wait for Kisner to exit?
The two sides remained in that purgatory at last week’s Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour’s final event of the 2024 regular season, when new news arrived: Kisner will be the lead commentator for NBC’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, his highest- Profile activity so far.
The part-time promotion gives Kisner another look at what life in the booth looks like ahead of a tough season of tough decisions about his PGA Tour future. His three-year PGA Tour winning streak is set to expire in December, making this year’s FedEx Cup an important milestone in his competitive future. (The fall FedEx Cup fills the final spots for the top 125 players who earn full-time status on the Tour the following year.) Kisner can choose to grind out his Tour status in the fall and see how it plays out, as he has all summer. He can choose to stick with the pro game and pick up his remaining releases. Or he might choose to return to NBC, after all.
Yes, there isn’t guarantee the network will be waiting to hire him in the role of lead analyst. The last few months have given NBC the freedom to try a number of other names with the name of the lead analyst, and although no tryout has escaped the job, names like Luke Donald, Paul McGinley and Brandel Chamblee have done well. . But NBC’s excitement at rehiring Kisner this fall shows all we need to know about the network’s enthusiasm for his talent. After a tumultuous year for the network’s golf coverage, Kisner’s hiring will be a welcome piece of good news.
As always, the question remains: Does Kisner feel the same way?
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