Brandel Chamblee is taking one of NBC’s analyst chairs for next month’s U.S. Open.
The network had been rotating commentators through its main booth all season and plans had been unclear as to who would take the chairs for NBC’s biggest golf broadcast, but a release Monday morning announced the lineup.
Dan Hicks and Chamblee will work together, as will Mike Tirico and Brad Faxon, and the leading pairs will alternate holes in NBC’s main broadcast windows.
“This year we began utilizing an odd/even system of hole assignments for our commentator pairings,” said Sam Flood, executive producer and president, production, NBC Sports. “Our new approach lets our play-by-play announcers give more context for what’s happening, while creating more opportunities for our analysts and on-course reporters to engage with each other and break down the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ before and after each moment.”
NBC also announced that Jim “Bones” Mackay and Roger Maltbie will be on-course reporters and Gary Koch will be an analyst. Maltbie and Koch were let go as full-time voices at the end of 2022 as NBC said it was looking to “refresh” its lineup, but returned for the first two rounds of this year’s Players Championship and were well-received by fans.
In its main booth this year, NBC had used current PGA Tour pro Kevin Kisner and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald along with Faxon, Chamblee, Notah Begay and Curt Byrum, not committing to anyone yet as the lead analyst. Longtime analyst Paul Azinger and NBC parted ways at the end of last year.
Chamblee is NBC/Golf Channel’s leading commentator, known for sharp and well-versed opinions. During majors he’s a staple on Golf Channel’s Live From shows that air after each round. Monday’s release did not include details on Live From the U.S. Open.
The U.S. Open is June 13-16 at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina and will be aired on NBC, Peacock and USA Network.
