Paul Azinger Commentaries (MERGED)

[me05501]

7 minutes ago, RSinSG said:

I agree with this. Finau has played some great golf over the past few years and seems to be very popular yet he rarely got any airtime. Now that he has won again, and this time on the big stage, it looks like we may see more of him. He’s not the only one that for some reason the networks choose not to follow. 

 

It's the style of coverage that Frank Chirkanian came up with and it has completely taken over television golf. They're trying to create a narrative. They do the background pieces, build up the fake drama, and then select the players to feature to try to tell the story they've laid out in the truck. 

 

It's most apparent when you see a lot of coverage of one player while the guy he's paired with is blowing up. It's always weird to see ten shots of one guy while his playing partner is only rarely seen in the background like Sasquatch. 
 

Edited August 30, 2021 by me05501

[MUNIGRIT]

I got reprimanded for saying Azinger is the Jon Gruden of announcing. Overly positive and too..........sorry dont want to get in trouble. His talking of Cantlay yesterday was like when Gruden would talk about the 2nd string FB and how great he is even though nobody knows who he is and he never appears in the stats yada yada....... 

[Noles]

Azinger is among the worst announcers in all of sports.  He is terrible.  He tried so hard to make what happened on 14 yesterday in to a controversy.  I was surprised that the other guys went along with it.  

[chigolfer1]

Don't ask me to articulate exactly why he's so bad, but he just is lol

[PappyVanWinkle53]

18 hours ago, ShowMe said:

Anybody else not a fan of the Zinger as an announcer?  I think he's trying too hard to be Johnny Miller, but it's not working for him.  He seems to go out of his way to try and be negative or to try and stir things up.  For example, he kept going on and on today at the BMW Championship about DeChambeau "calling out" Cantlay and how Cantlay took it personally.  Must have mentioned it at least 10 times.  There was no evidence of that.  He asked Cantlay to stop walking.  Big whoop.  Sure, they weren't chit chatting with each other for the 7 hole playoff, but so what.  They weren't chit chatting for the first 18 holes either.

 

It's getting to the point where I'll have turn off the sound on the tv and listen to the commentary from Sirius XM.  Then again, if I have to hear Earl say one more time that if so and so makes this putt he'll move to 75th in the FedEx point standings, and it's only the first hole of the first round, I might just have to shoot myself.

 

I think that Sir Nick, who actually has the championship golf bona fides (unlike Zinger), does a much better job, although a lot of that could be because Nantz makes anybody look good.

Sure, he can be hard to listen to at times......but you can't say he doesn't championship golf bona fides.....he won a major and has 10+ other professional wins.

[jc2]

 

7 minutes ago, chigolfer1 said:

Don't ask me to articulate exactly why he's so bad, but he just is lol

He's bad because he says the same thing over and over.  We heard that Bryson has hit like 17 miles of drives in the course of the tournament in back to back holes, we heard that fellow pros think Bryson is such a great putter in back to back holes, we heard that you have to have mental fortitude to swing hard you can't just do it in back to back holes.  We heard Bryson misses all of his putts to the left except oops for the one they just showed that went to the right.  

 

Look we all occasionally take golf naps and miss a quip here or there, but are they really so genuinely insightful that we need to hear them over and over?  Could we just say they once and then say something else, maybe put them on a ticker down at the bottom so that if I fall asleep for a bit I could read them at my leisure?  

 

The 2nd  17th hole playoff when Cantlay's ball was in the air there was no commentary for the whole shot and it was fantastic.  Just watching the ball, I don't need someone else to explain what was going on.  

[woodriff]

I didn’t do the math in the standings, but I did hear ….

”that right there is a $400,000 mistake”

”that ob there is a $100,000 mistake 

 

Miller would have said “snootfull” of Cash, and left it at that. 
 

the fawning over Bryson was a bit much. Miller often talked about the jacked lofts, comparing them to his own. 
Azinger knows that a BD wedge is not a mere mortal wedge at 49 to 50*. It’s a 6 iron length with a jacked wedge. Who’s to say what the loft is. 

[Pepperturbo]

I have always appreciated Azinger's viewpoint, after all, he's rather accomplished at golf, especially compared to everyone on Golfwrx.  Is he a perfect announcer, no, but none of the pro golfers turned announces are perfect at filling TV air gaps with chatter.  The ones I dislike most are professional announcers, like Nantz and Lerner, etc.

 

With that said, I may not agree with Zingers opinion at times, but I will listen to his view regarding golf.  Besides, disagreeing with someone doesn't necessitate disliking the person.

[me05501]

I think what sets the great ones apart from the lousy ones is research. I don't get the impression that Azinger does much of it. It's more like he has some notes that some intern pulled together for him and then he just wings it. 

Miller could be overbearing for sure, but it never seemed like he wasn't prepared. 

[sui generis]

Azinger is both vapid and illiterate . . . not sure which is worse. 🙄

[Man_O_War]

he never says anything intelligent. at least Lanny sounds like he has a beer and brisket stuck up and can't stop talking and rarely says anything useful..Paul just isn't cut for the job. There's a coal mine missing a sup

[Pingfitz]

Can’t stand him. Makes golf hard to listen to.

[Naptime]

I haven't enjoyed golf announcers in the last 30 years or so. Bring back Chris Shenkel and Jack Whitaker.  And I miss Keith Jackson on football broadcasts.

[Nixhex524]

11 hours ago, JohnnyCashForever said:

A Terry Gannon/Phil Mickelson team would blow Hicks/Azinger and Nantz/Faldo out of the water.      

Gannon is great, totally underrated announcer.  I'd be fine if he did every PGA event.

[Tdsjfb]

Azinger seems tired, disinterested, unimaginative, and painfully repetitive. Besides that, he's fantastic - and miles better than Faldo.

[golfortennis]

9 hours ago, me05501 said:

 

It's the style of coverage that Frank Chirkanian came up with and it has completely taken over television golf. They're trying to create a narrative. They do the background pieces, build up the fake drama, and then select the players to feature to try to tell the story they've laid out in the truck. 

 

It's most apparent when you see a lot of coverage of one player while the guy he's paired with is blowing up. It's always weird to see ten shots of one guy while his playing partner is only rarely seen in the background like Sasquatch. 
 

 

Chirkinian was so enamored with(quite likely good friends with as well) Greg Norman, that they decided to play a trick on him or his sub one week Norman wasn't playing.  Story is in A Good Walk Spoiled, but it was funny to read.

 

It is horrible, and as someone said, the European Tour broadcasts are so much better.  You maybe see the announcer at the beginning of the broadcast, and that is it.  You hear them, but they keep relatively quiet if there is nothing worth saying. 

 

Part of why I disliked Woods back in the day.  Seeing him walking more than other guys hit shots was maddening.  Cut to him hitting a shot live every time, no problem.  But show the other players. 

 

 

[golfortennis]

I can't believe I am saying this, but this where Nick Faldo is useful.  They played off each other quite well, and I think they were more serious about the craft, perhaps in the hopes of one-upping the other.  On their own, the parts are worth much less than the sum.

[CDLgolf]

I really liked Azinger as a player but I don't enjoy him as a announcer. 

 

I know Costis and McCord were on another network but I thought they were much better. I also miss Johnny Miller.

[Draw Driver]

Ridiculous take. Zinger is one of the greatest announcers of all time, of all time! Just ask DL3.

 

Regards, 

 

Ahmad Rashad 

[foreplease]

When Azinger calls any play he sounds like he's on the pot and trying to push out a turd. It's like he's constipated and really trying to pinch a loaf..

 

The guy is awful, just awful.

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by foreplease
Fixed a misspelled word.

[jqsmooth]

I wonder if the execs @ NBC are regretting their decision to bring him on.  Was he #1 on their list?  Wonder who turned them down that we got stuck with him.

[Mr.Cleeks]

I hate Azinger and Faldo for different reasons. I'll take Terry Gannon and Justin Leonard in the booth for every tournament. Sure the 2 of them can be boring at times, but they know when to shut up and let the golf play out. 

[ShowMe]

On 8/29/2021 at 10:44 PM, BNGL said:

Sure and that last part purely subjective he can suck as a commentator but he was a great player. 

Jack Nicklaus was a great player.  Tiger Woods is a great player.  Arnold Palmer was a great player.

 

Paul Azinger was a very good player.  12 wins and 1 major.  The great players get into the Hall of Fame. 

[bekgolf]

5 hours ago, Nixhex524 said:

Gannon is great, totally underrated announcer.  I'd be fine if he did every PGA event.

 

Agree.

 

I like the Gannon/Faldo team broadcasts.  They seem to have a synergy about them.

[ShowMe]

14 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

LOL, so it's "I really had no freaking clue about any of that but I'm still right!"

 

Carry on.

12 wins.  1 major.  He was a very good player, but not a great one.  The great ones get into the Hall of Fame.

 

Regardless, none of that has anything to do with his performance as a commentator, does it?  Get a friend to explain it to you.  

[ShowMe]

8 hours ago, PappyVanWinkle53 said:

Sure, he can be hard to listen to at times......but you can't say he doesn't championship golf bona fides.....he won a major and has 10+ other professional wins.

I think you have to win at least two majors to be considered to have championship bona fides.  One could be an accident.  Two is proof.

[ShowMe]

3 hours ago, Draw Driver said:

Ridiculous take. Zinger is one of the greatest announcers of all time, of all time! Just ask DL3.

 

Regards, 

 

Ahmad Rashad 

Lol.  That will be my next thread...on how bad an on-course announcer DL 3 was.  

[grm24]

3 hours ago, ShowMe said:

I think you have to win at least two majors to be considered to have championship bona fides.  One could be an accident.  Two is proof.

So does that mean Andy North has announcing bona fides? Curtis Strange? Greg Norman? Padraig Harrington? Olin Dutra (RIP)? Crenshaw?

Edited August 31, 2021 by grm24

[golfortennis]

9 hours ago, ShowMe said:

Jack Nicklaus was a great player.  Tiger Woods is a great player.  Arnold Palmer was a great player.

 

Paul Azinger was a very good player.  12 wins and 1 major.  The great players get into the Hall of Fame. 

 

Dude got *cancer* when he was at the peak of his career.  He was player of the year on tour in 87, had won 4 times in the year leading up to the 93 PGA, including the Tour Championship, and the Memorial, with a tie for 3rd at the US Open in there as well.  All with a shoulder in such pain he couldn't lift his arm above his head, which he later found was cancer.  Did I mention that?  Cancer?  Dude won a tournament and played in a Ryder Cup after cancer treatment.  

 

I'm no fan of his announcing either, but you really need to quit slagging his playing career. 

 

Jeez, Tony Lema wasn't a great player in your eyes either based on your criteria.  

 

[nitram]

So who do you recommend for the job?