Paul Azinger has described his first year as a broadcaster on the Golf Channel’s PGA Tour Champions coverage as “the most difficult year of calling golf that I’ve ever experienced.”
Azinger announced his return to broadcasting with the Golf Channel in 2024, a year after his shock departure from NBC, but his first season in the hotseat wasn’t without its challenges, not least because of a two-to three-second delay from the PGA Tour’s new remote location causing disruptions.
That issue was evident from his first broadcast at the 2025 Chubb Classic at Naples last February. As reported by Golfweek’s Adam Schupak, Azinger referenced the problem during a media conference call ahead of the 2026 edition of the tournament.
He explained: “We were all caught off guard. Sometimes the viewer would see the ball go in the hole three seconds before us, and then we’d have to curb our reaction because sometimes we’d see it go in before you.”
The 2025 PGA Tour Champions season was the first to be broadcast from the new PGA Tour Studios in Florida’s Ponte Vedra Beach, and Azinger admitted the teething problems weren’t addressed in time for the coverage – although he’s confident the issues have since been largely rectified.
He added: “It wasn’t ready… the first four weeks for me was like, ‘Holy cow, how can I even be doing this?’ We can’t even talk to the guy on the ground because there’s a three-second delay. But 90 percent of it’s been fixed.”
Azinger began covering the PGA Tour Champions in 2025
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“I would say the first year was probably the most difficult year of calling golf that I’ve ever experienced,” he continued.
“But I think all of those challenges have been fixed at this point. I hope. We’ll find out here soon enough because we’re in [Ponte Vedra Beach] and they’re in Naples.”
Months before Azinger penned his deal with the Golf Channel, he told Golfweek that his interests had become more aligned with the PGA Tour Champions than the PGA Tour, saying: “I’d rather call the Senior Tour than the PGA Tour to tell you the truth. I’m over the PGA Tour.”
Azinger will be hoping his second season covering the circuit proves a far smoother experience.
The Chubb Classic takes place at Tiburon Golf Club in…
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