CBS will have an “on-course set” for broadcasters Amanda Renner and Colt Knost at five PGA Tour stops this year, according to Todd Kelly of GOLFWEEK. The events include this week's WM Phoenix Open (16th hole), AT&T Byron Nelson (17th hole), RBC Canadian Open (14th hole), Rocket Mortgage Classic (15th hole) and the FedEx St. Jude Championship (14th hole). For the first time last year, CBS built a set for the two "just off the tee" of the 16th hole for third round coverage of the WM Phoenix Open. The set was “a hit,” as was the “recent on-course, live talkback with a player on the course,” as PGA Tour player Max Homa demonstrated at the Farmers Insurance Open. Knost said it is “a change in the broadcast.” Knost: “We’re starting to do some really cool things to make golf more fun on TV. Getting players to agree to be mic-ed up. … it’s all about trying new things because, to be honest, golf can be a little boring and we want it to be exciting” (GOLFWEEK, 2/7).
SECOND WIND: In Phoenix, Bill Goodykoontz wrote when Knost missed the cut at the 2020 WM Phoenix Open, he “decided to put down his clubs and pick up a microphone, going to work at first part-time for CBS as an on-course reporter and analyst before getting hired full-time in 2021.” He had “done some work for the network since 2019.” Knost was “a hit from the start” by being “smart and funny.” Knost is “willing to say offbeat things that other analysts and reporters won’t.” Knost said, “You just don’t know how your personality is going to translate on air.” He added, “Once that red light goes on you never know if people are going to lock up, or if they’re going to totally be a different personality.” Knost said he just tries to "talk the same way on TV as I would sitting around a table in a bar having a beer.” He said he is “a little surprised at the transition, because I think professional athletes -- and it’s weird to call myself that -- but you never have a Plan B.” Knost: “You always think you’re going to play your sport forever and then ride off into the sunset. But obviously that doesn’t happen with everybody" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/5).
