The spotlight at The Masters Tournament rarely welcomes disruption. It is all about following traditions at the season’s first major. Yet, the coverage and broadcasting of this year’s edition is a complete overhaul. ESPN has decided to add Jason Kelce to the team covering the Masters 2026. While he is facing backlash, there’s some hope as he got some advice from Jim Nantz.
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“Virtually everybody in that field is going to have a caddie that’s special to them. And more likely, it’s going to be a family member, a child, a daughter, or even a wife. So, one is what was that experience like? And two is how do you feel about your game going into the tournament? That’s all you need to ask,” Nantz said on New Heights.
“Now, maybe somebody knocks a hole in a hole in one, and you might ask them about that, but I think people want to know what the week looks like for them and what that experience was like out on the par three tournament. It’s unique. We don’t see anything like that the rest of the year. You don’t need to dig uh much deeper than that. This is a feel-good event. And you’re gonna be you’re gonna be the right guy to do that.”
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Jason Kelce is making his first official on‑site appearance at the Masters as part of ESPN’s coverage team for the Par‑3 Contest. He is joining Scott Van Pelt and Marty Smith. While there’s no official explanation for why ESPN chose him, the aim was likely to bring his energetic personality to the family event.
To help him out, Jim Nantz gave him a blueprint to cover the 2026 Masters Par-3 Contest. Nantz joined CBS Sports’ golf coverage team in 1986. He has been anchoring its coverage of the Masters Tournament since 1989. He quickly became the face of CBS’s major‑championship broadcasts and even garnered praise as the “voice of the Masters.”
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February 2, 2025, Pebble Beach, Ca, USA: Sportscaster Jim Nantz is seen during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2025 at Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 02, 2025 in Pebble Beach, California. Photo: Casey Flanigan/imageSPACE Pebble Beach USA – ZUMAi237 20250202_zsa_i237_089 Copyright: xFlanigan/Imagespacex
Over the years, he has covered some of the most iconic moments of the event, including Jack Nicklaus’s sixth green jacket in 1986 and Tiger Woods’s breakthrough in 1997.
So, his advice carries weight. In fact, he is right to say that the caddies at the Masters Par-3 Contest are someone special for the professionals. Thus, it is the experience that matters and not the win. Many professionals don’t even want to win it because of the Par-3 curse lore, since no professional who won it went on to win the Masters that year.
It remains to be seen how the pros will react to Kelce’s presence. But for now, he is facing a lot of backlash online from fans.
Kelce even participated in the contest as a caddie for Akshay Bhatia. However, neither his involvement in the coverage team nor his partnership with Bhatia was appreciated by the golf world. The biggest concern was the lack of familiarity of the NFL star with golf.
As a result, the backlash grew further. He wore a caddie outfit, unfolded a lawn chair, and spoke loudly and informally as play unfolded behind him. For many, this clashed with Augusta’s typically quiet, reverent atmosphere.
Jim Nantz’s advice to Jason Kelce wasn’t random. It was shaped by decades of witnessing the Masters at its most emotional. To understand why his two-question blueprint matters, it helps to look at the moments that have defined his storytelling at Augusta National.
Jim Nantz reveals the emotional heartbeat of the Masters
Nantz has been covering the Masters for CBS Sports for nearly three decades now. However, he still sounds fresh and full of perspective because he cherishes every moment there.
Jim Nantz revealed that the closing sequence of every Masters makes him emotional. After the winner’s triumph on the 18th green, he walks and climbs up the rise to where his family is waiting. From there, he and his family walk together past patrons. The CBS reporter describes this moment as one that makes it hard for him to stay composed. According to him, it is the perfect blend of victory, family, and Augusta’s unique atmosphere.
There are many such moments the journalist has lived through the Masters over the years. For instance, he recalls Jack Nicklaus’ sixth green jacket win in 1986, especially his birdie putt on the 16th in the final round. And then there’s Tiger Woods. He won in 1997 and rushed to hug his father, Earl. In 2019, when he won his 5th green jacket, he rushed to hug someone again, and this time it was his son, Charlie.
Moments like these explain why Jim Nantz leans on emotion and simplicity rather than overanalysis at Augusta. That same philosophy sits at the core of the advice he passed to Jason Kelce. He advised focusing on the human stories, and the Masters will take care of the rest.
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Edited by
Aatreyi Sarkar