A decade ago, puppy filters dominated Snapchat, The Chainsmokers played on repeat, and Amanda Balionis was certain she’d just ended her broadcasting career.

The CBS Sports reporter resurfaced that fear in a nostalgic Instagram carousel posted mid-January 2026. The post drips with 2016 cultural markers—dabbing, huge necklaces, #yogaeverydamnday—but beneath the lighthearted throwback sits a confession that cuts deeper than any trending filter.

“2016 was the year I left the PGA TOUR, thinking I was leaving broadcasting because the TV jobs just weren’t coming,” Balionis wrote. “After moving across the country (with my dog Chorizo) from Jax to San Diego—to work in marketing—I received a life-changing call from @missaugust. TNT hired me for their PGA Champ coverage, @golfoncbs hired me from there, and the rest is history.”

The rest, as she frames it, spans nine years of Masters coverage, NFL sidelines, and a seat among golf broadcasting’s most recognizable voices. But the journey from Jacksonville to San Diego wasn’t a calculated career pivot. It felt like surrender.

In sports media, leaving a league role for a brand-side position often signals an exit from journalism altogether. Balionis understood that calculus. She packed her car, loaded Chorizo into the passenger seat, and drove cross-country, believing she’d traded a microphone for a marketing desk permanently.

The Callaway years, however, weren’t wasted. She built in-house media productions for the golf equipment giant—sharpening storytelling instincts, learning production rhythms, and developing branded content muscles that would later differentiate her on-air work. The detour doubled as an incubator.

Then came the phone call.

A contact at Turner Sports—tagged cryptically as @missaugust in her post—offered Balionis a spot on the broadcast team for the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club. Jimmy Walker captured that major title. Balionis captured something else entirely: her way back.

The timing of her 2026 post isn’t accidental either. January social feeds overflow with “10 years ago” photo dumps—a nostalgia trend that invites professionals to share polished vulnerability. Balionis leaned into it, but her version carried weight beyond aesthetic throwbacks.

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Amanda Balionis’ ‘start over’ philosophy traces back to 2016

This wasn’t the first time Balionis reflected publicly on that year’s inflection point. She previously shared on Instagram that her “first lesson” in trusting life’s timing arrived in 2016, “when I kept hitting road block after road block in my career.”

“A completely new opportunity was offered to me, and I finally said, ‘Okay. I’ve done all I can do. It’s time to start over and trust that you did your best and you’re meant for something else,'” she revealed.

Three months after accepting the Callaway role, CBS came calling.

For golf fans watching her anchor Sunday coverage, the trajectory looks seamless. For young journalists navigating similar crossroads, Balionis’s admission dismantles that illusion. The woman interviewing Rory McIlroy at Augusta once believed she’d hung up the mic for good.

“Channeling the magic of #2016 in 2026,” she closed her caption.

The magic, it turns out, wasn’t the puppy filters or The Chainsmokers. It was the terrifying leap that looked like failure—until it became a launchpad.