Jim Nantz Reveals the Real Side of Brandel Chamblee That No One Talks About

You wouldn’t consider Brandel Chamblee as a prolific golfer when he still played professionally. But he has still been a spectator to some of the greatest golf across three decades. He saw the final years of the domination of Jack Nicklaus, the rise and fall of Greg Norman, and the beginning of Tiger Woods. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that Chamblee knows a thing or two about the sport, even if he couldn’t master it on course. And some still follow the path of the wisdom that he shared.

One of them is Jim Nantz, who couldn’t help be give credit to his fellow veteran analyst. He shared his recent experience playing on the Old Course at St. Andrews on Golf Digest. In the article, Nantz mentioned how his close friend, Dave Reneker, set him and his friends up for a round at St. Andrews. That’s where he met Alan Carlyle, a caddie who was assigned to carry his bags.

During one of their conversations, Carlyle mentioned how he used to also caddie for Chamblee during his playing years. In fact, the veteran caddie also confessed that Brandel had a huge impact on his life. Alan said, “A few years back, I caddied for a fine young player who went on to become a television presenter, like you. His name was Brandel Chamblee, and when I worked for him at the 1995 Open Championship, I learned a valuable lesson in communications.”

Chamblee is a master of crafting the most compelling stories from the fairway. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that he is dishing out lessons in communication so casually. However, even his smallest advice seemed to have changed the perspective of Carlyle’s approach towards his bosses. The caddie added, “At the par-4 sixth hole in the opening round, he hit the blind tee shot way right. He looked at me and asked, ‘How’s that?’ I was certain he had found the gorse and a wee bit too quickly, I responded, ‘It’s dead.’”

It was not that Brandel was expecting to get a result at the Old Course at St Andrews in 1995. He was never great in the majors. However, he still wanted to know what his caddie thought about the shot he had just hit. Even though he knew he didn’t have a shot at recovering from it after it went quite wide. But Chamblee was pleased with Carlyle’s response. That’s when he gave him the biggest tip of his life.

“After he hit a provisional, Brandel said with fire in his eyes, Don’t ever tell me it’s dead again! Give me some hope!” Alan said. Brandel never wanted to know if the shot was good. He just wanted to understand how his caddie would respond. And even Carlyle realized that, as he mentioned, “You know, I never forgot that. Ever since, I gently break the bad news to my golfer with phrases like, ‘We’ll see about that one,’ or ‘Hopefully, we got a good bounce.’”

Pro golfers might not always look for honest takes when they ask their caddies such questions. Sometimes, they are just trying to find some external hope if they are not motivated from within to keep pushing. While Chamblee used it as a teaching moment for his caddie, not all pros might react that way. Just ask Collin Morikawa, who has struggled to get along with many loopers throughout 2025. He has played with five different caddies, yet he expressed that “things just don’t feel right” with any of them.

It’s not the first time Brandel Chamblee’s knowledge and wisdom have enlightened the golf community. He has often left many fans, peers, and players mesmerized with his words.

Brandel Chamblee connects the dots with words

There are very few who can claim that they know more about golf than Brandel Chamblee. He can quote some of the most remarkable moments in the sport as if they were just another top 5 finish for Scottie Scheffler. Speaking of Scheffler, Chamblee indirectly challenged the world #1 a few weeks ago to win the TOUR Championship.

After Scottie won the BMW Championship, Brandel tweeted an interesting fact. He wrote that no one since Tiger Woods in 2007 had won the TOUR Championship while being the FedEx Cup leader. Scottie Scheffler was in the perfect position to achieve that feat. While the record still remains unbeaten, it would have turned into a remarkable story if Mr. Inevitable had followed the big cat’s footsteps.