Jim Nantz appeared to aim a dig at LIV Golf as Dustin Johnson began his first round at the 2023 PGA Championship.
After a slow start to the season, Johnson picked up his first win on the breakaway circuit at last week's event in Tulsa, but some viewers in the US were left dismayed when the CW network pulled the live coverage off air before the thrilling climax.
Johnson went on to prevail at the first hole of a playoff against Cameron Smith and Branden Grace, but instead of that exciting finale, some regions in America were served an old episode of Family Feud or Penn & Teller.
In LIV's defence, the action was delayed by two hours following some inclement weather and was still available on the CW app, but Nantz, a veteran CBS broadcaster, couldn't resist the chance to take a subtle swipe at the perceived gaffe.
"Not sure if you had a chance to see it, but he was a winner last week in Tulsa in a playoff," Nantz said, as Johnson was announced onto the first tee at Oak Hill.
Jim Nantz D 👏🏻 G 👏🏻 A 👏🏻 F 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/HVG6MOAwsVMay 18, 2023
It's the second Major in a row where Nantz has been caught making a head-scratching reference to the Saudi-funded league. At The Masters, Brooks Koepka was approaching his third shot on the par-5 15th during the third round when Natz said: "There he is right on the C.W., the crosswalk."
Whether that was meant as a sleight after LIV signed a deal with the CW network back in February is anyone's guess, but it's hard to recall a time previously when Nantz would have used such terminology to describe a crosswalk.
Here’s the clip of Nantz’s “CW” comment. Was this a subtle dig at LIV? pic.twitter.com/IoFOOSeb9gApril 9, 2023
The 64-year-old has been critical of LIV Golf in the past, saying he felt "betrayal" when it launched in June last year at the Centurion Club just outside of London. Since then, there have been calls for the warring tribes to commence peace talks, while relations between players have remained largely unaffected, but that doesn't appear to have changed Nantz's position on the saga.
