Jim Nantz kicks off 40th year at CBS with a wild James Bond story

Forty years ago this week, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into flight, killing all seven crew members. That same day, a 26-year-old sportscaster named Jim Nantz was preparing to leave his home to go out and meet the CBS golf team — executive golf producer Frank Chirkinian and the dynamic duo of Pat Summerall and Ken Venturi — for the first time at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“I showed up at Pebble Beach eager to meet all of these legends and people that I had always heard about and who had provided me with so much content and coverage as a young boy, harboring dreams of one day being able to do this for a living. That, and CBS’ presentation of the NFL really moved me,” Nantz said.

Advertisement

On Saturday, Nantz will kick off its 40th anniversary^th year of CBS golf coverage with a “Hello Friends” from Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., and a preview of matches at the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open. Speaking on a CBS media call, Nantz grew nostalgic while remembering his early days at Pebble.

“Anyway,” Nantz said, “I arrived and met Frank Chirkinian right across the street from the Lodge at Pebble Beach. That’s where I heard we were staying. That’s where, luckily, CBS still has rooms to this day. I met the big man. Chirkinian looked at me and said, ‘I got three things for you, kid. First of all, you won’t be on the air this weekend. You’re only here to observe. You’re not ready. Again. This burst a little bubble. “Secondly, they are full at the Lodge. You don’t stay here. So he hid me in a house on the left side of the first fairway. I stayed in this villa that once belonged to one of the most underrated players in the history of the game – Lawson Little Jr. You can look up his record if you want, US Open champion in 1940. It was his home. And I stayed with the great golf writer Bob Drum, in a six-bedroom villa. I did not stay at the Lodge.

“So, ‘You’re not going to be on the air. It’s going to wait until Doral – if I still love you. B, you’re not staying at the Lodge.’ I was fine with it, I didn’t care. “And C, if you come in the next few weeks and show me something, I’m going to put you on my Masters broadcast team in 10 weeks.” Now this caught my attention.

Nantz remembered one of his all-time favorite stories to tell at banquets, which took place the same week 40 years ago. As a newcomer to Pebble, Chirkinian told Nantz that he had had at least one glass of wine too many the night before and needed Nantz to replace him on the golf course…at Cypress Point. That’s how Nantz arrived at the first tee and introduced himself to the club’s head professional, Jim Langley, who became such a dear friend that Nantz lists him in his dream foursome.

Advertisement

“He put an arm around my shoulder and said, ‘You’re next on the tee and, oh, by the way, you’re playing with Sean Connery,'” Nantz said.

Heady stuff associated with the actor best known for playing British spy James Bond in several films. After the tour, Connery needed a ride back to the Lodge at Pebble Beach and Nantz was more than happy to oblige. But as Connery slid into the rental’s back seat, Nantz didn’t notice that Connery’s left leg was still dangling over the curb. He slammed the door and heard a bloodcurdling scream. Nantz had pushed the door right at the sensitive spot, between the ankle and the shin. Blood seeped through Connery’s partially torn pants.

“I had done something that Blofeld and Odd Job had failed to do. I had bloodied Bond,” Nantz said. “I apologized up and down. I thought I had lost a lunch invitation. We had grilled calamari. I didn’t even know what it was at the time, but it looked interesting. Ultimately, he said, you have to come and play at my club. If you ever find yourself on the Costa del Sol, I live in Marbella. You will be my guest at Valderrama. How can I find you? I wondered. I’m in the phone book. Under Connery, Seanhe said. True story. Not embellished, even a little. »

For Nantz, those inauspicious beginnings propelled him to the top of his profession and allowed him to be the soundtrack to many of golf’s most memorable moments over the past 40 years.

Advertisement

“I’m still that little kid who probably didn’t have the means to be able to go out and watch the PGA Tour in person. But my parents did everything they could humanly possible to get me out when the Tour was close to be able to go out and watch it and observe it and let me run around and watch the stars of that era,” Nantz said. “And that’s how I feel every day when I show up to a PGA Tour event.”

Happy birthday to Nantz and here’s to another season of golf on CBS.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Jim Nantz Kicks Off Golf’s 40th Year on CBS – With a Wild James Bond Story