McCord, with CBS since '86, would have preferred a different end to his time at the netGETTY IMAGES
A CBS spokesperson said that former golf analysts Gary McCord and Peter Kostis "were offered the chance to work" the network's first two PGA Tour events of '20, but "both declined," according to Dave Shedloski of GOLF DIGEST. McCord confirmed that he declined to work the Farmers Insurance Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open because, "The way it was presented, I felt it was more for them than for us." McCord, who had been with the network since '86, said, "This is not how I would have preferred to see it end. ... I knew I was coming to the end of the deal, but I was going to go out on my terms. That's not happening now. Bottom line, they fired me." McCord said that he "doesn't mind getting fired, 'but when you tell me I'm really doing well, when you tell me, 'Oh, you're so good for our brand and helping our brand' ... and then in the next breath, you say you're firing me?" Rumors "suggest that the network is going younger" by making longtime PGA Tour player Trevor Immelman "one of the new mainstays." He is "expected to be joined" by his brother, Mark, a college coach at Columbus State who also does broadcasting on PGA Tour Live and SiriusXM Radio (GOLFDIGEST.com, 10/29). CBS this morning announced the addition of Golf HOFer Davis Love III to its PGA Tour coverage on a full-time basis. Love's first tournament will be the Farmers Insurance Open in January, and he will also call The Masters and PGA Championship (CBS Sports).
IN THE CLUBHOUSE: McCord appeared yesterday on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio's "Gravy & The Sleeze" and said that he "first felt a sense of unease about his future with CBS when he heard from Kostis last Wednesday that the network was not renewing Kostis' deal." McCord, who is 71, said that he "believes the network wants to bring in younger talent, in part to help facilitate the PGA Tour's stated interest in attracting new audience via gambling." McCord: "The Tour can't exist with a 1.2 rating on Saturday and a 1.8 on Sunday. They've got to find another direction and gambling is it. Who do you hire?" (GOLF.com, 10/28).
