PGA Tour, CBS to Mic Up Select Players for Charles Schwab Challenge

CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said Monday the PGA Tour will allow a few players to get mic'd up during the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, which tees off Thursday.

The Charles Schwab Challenge is the Tour's first event since the Players Championship was canceled after the opening round because of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March. McManus explained that microphones will be voluntary.

"We've been talking to the Tour about it for years," he told reporters. "I think there's probably a greater appreciation for wanting to contemporize golf coverage a little bit, and I think the players are beginning to realize that they can play a real role in that and making the product a little more interesting for the viewer at home."

McManus added the CBS broadcast is going to showcase the worldwide protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis Police custody May 25 during the opening segment.

"I just think there would be a recognition on the part of our announcers that golf and sports coverage is not a matter of life and death, but it's a little perspective," he said. "Let's have some enjoyment out there. Let's appreciate the athletic competition, but let's also remember that there's a lot of other things going on in this country that we don't need to necessarily recognize except in the opening but we have to keep in the back of our minds."

Meanwhile, other changes to the broadcast include announcer Jim Nantz working alone in the broadcast tower by the 18th hole, with analyst Nick Faldo working in Florida, and an overall crew about half the size of a typical PGA Tour event.

"It's going to be different," Nantz told reporters. "I'm not going to have Nick sitting next to me. I won't have anybody [in the booth]. Normally it would be six or seven people. We're all going to adjust. It's one of the great challenges I've seen in my 35-year career."

Players having microphones on them throughout the round played a key role in the success of Capital One's "The Match: Champions for Charity" golf exhibition last month, which saw Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning defeat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.

"I think that can make a big difference," Nantz said. "It's a wonderful opportunity for the game. They have a chance to go before a sports-starved nation and create a wider audience. But we need the players' help."

The Charles Schwab Challenge, which will take place at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, is set to feature a star-studded field led by Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.