Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are like us — they have time on their hands.
Both afforded CBS Sports two-plus hours to make the re-airing of two Masters tournaments something special.
“These are not five-minute interviews in the body of the show,” Jim Nantz said Friday by telephone. “Phil is working as a color commentator as I’m doing play-by-play. And Tiger could not have been better about giving the time needed to make this show really sing.”
CBS Sports will re-air the final rounds of Mickelson’s 2004 Masters victory (1:30-5 p.m. Saturday) and Woods’ “Return to Glory” triumph last year (11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday).
For action-starved golf fans, the timing could not be better. With COVID-19 cases peaking in many parts of the country, Americans are desperate for a diversion.
“The Masters brings out this emotional chord in me,” Nantz said. “It’s who I am. I don’t want to make the Masters sound like this magic elixir, but this is around the time of the peak of the surge, it’s a holy week (Easter) and these are two tournaments that have positive messages, stories of triumph against odds.”
As Nantz pointed out, Mickelson went winless in 2003, and his wife, Amy, nearly died while delivering son Evan. On top of that, Mickelson had no major victories.
Mickelson entered the final round tied with Chris DiMarco and dueled Ernie Els on the back nine, leading to a thrilling finish. (No spoilers here!)
“This is high-level insight,” Nantz said. “We hear what Phil is thinking — the minute, tiny data points. He has such charisma and a magnetism about him.”
Woods’ victory was his first in a major since 2008. In between he suffered from self-induced public humiliation, a back condition that paralyzed him in stretches and chipping yips that made another victory at Augusta National seem preposterous.
Nantz said Woods, bearded and wearing his Green Jacket, offered the kind of commentary he normally keeps to himself.
“He is a lot more emotional and reflective than he was in Butler Cabin last year,” Nantz said. “He stayed focused and didn’t quite let us in. A year later it’s a different side of him.”
Nantz said Woods’ breakdown of the final round and the turning point — when Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau and Francesco Molinari all dumped tee shots into Rae’s Creek on No. 12 — is a window into the mind of a 15-time major champion.
“Tiger talked as you’ve never heard him before,” Nantz said.
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