SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Kevin Kisner always has talked a good game.
After being widely praised for his TV commentating debut for NBC/Golf Channel at The Sentry in Hawaii, Kisner is back behind a mic this week at the WM Phoenix Open. He’ll take part in a four-man booth paired with host Dan Hicks and alongside Steve Sands and Brad Faxon, flipping odd and even holes. On the weekend, he’ll be stationed at TPC Scottsdale’s iconic par-3 16th alongside Smylie Kaufman and 20,000 rowdy fans and said he just hopes he can hear himself. If ever there was a week that Kisner could openly roast players as only he can do, this is the week.
“That’s what I’m definitely doing,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday.
Kisner wishes Boo Weekely could get a turn in the booth — wouldn’t that be something! — riffs on the PGA Tour’s new business moves and how everyone thinks they’re part of the media these days. That and more from Kis in a rollicking Q&A that ain’t no hobby.
GWK: Is doing TV commentary just a hobby, or is this going to be a career change for you?
KK: Oh, I think it’s just a hobby for now. I still want to play full-time. This is the only one I’m still scheduled to do from here on out. I have no idea what NBC’s intentions are, but Tommy (Roy) asked me to help them out when they knew they weren’t renewing (Paul) Azinger, so I picked these two to do. I still plan to play a full schedule for the rest of the year.
GWK: Is it as simple as the money to be made doing TV vs playing just doesn’t compute for you right now?
KK: Well, I’m not sure. It sure is nice to travel on somebody else’s dime for once in 20 years, and to know you’re making a check every week. But no, absolutely, you can definitely make way more money playing on the PGA Tour. What did Scottie Scheffler make, $40 million last year?
GWK: Have you gone back to watch any of your TV debut in Hawaii to see how you did?
KK: I have not watched one second. Tommy told me to, but it’s like going back and watching me play golf. I don’t really do that, either.
GWK: Did they give you any kind of letter grade or any sense of how you did?
KK: You know, I think everyone was pleased with how it came out from the first one. Tommy thought I did a great job. I’ve had some conversations with Sam Flood about it. But we haven’t had any discussions, future, long-term if they ever wanted me to do it full time. I have no idea. That’s something for them to answer. I’ve told them I can only commit to two tournaments, and this is the last one. We have had no discussions past this week.
GWK: Anything you're going to try to do differently this week?
KK: Well, we’re doing a new concept this week, so the funny thing is it seems like every day they throw something new at me, and I just roll with it. We’re having two lead guys and two analysts, all four of us in the booth at the same time. Trying to navigate that is going to be interesting, and then Saturday obviously I’m doing the 16th tee with Smylie (Kaufman) all day. Each day is going to have some new twists and turns, and just got to get – you’ve got to get into that comfort zone. It’s kind of like the fourth or fifth hole of a golf tournament. After you’re kind of anxious, nervous to get started, and by the third or fourth hole you kind of settle down. That’s kind of how this broadcast works for me anyway. You’re kind of ready to get going, want to get into the groove, and after about the first commercial, you kind of settle down and get rolling.
GWK: How are you going to approach broadcasting at 16?
KK: I have no idea. We tried to test out some different mics and headphones last night during that celebrity shootout, and I couldn’t hear anything. We’re just going to wing it, man, see what happens. Smylie and I, we are doing no prep. We’re just going to wing it, and hopefully it turns out great.
GWK: It feels like if there’s ever a week where you can just kind of sit at a hole and roast guys, this is the week?
KK: That’s what I’m definitely doing. But they’ve got to hit bad shots for me to roast them, and I don’t see a whole lot of bad shots anymore. The weather could make it interesting, though. It’s supposed to rain and be cold.
GWK: Is there another player who you think would be really good at this? Say, for instance, if you were in charge of hiring, who would pick?
KK: The difficult part is trying to figure out somebody that can please the majority because everybody I’ve talked to seems to have a different opinion on what golf telecasts should be. All you ever hear is everyone complaining the golf telecasts should get better, should improve, we should come up with new innovative ways, but there’s only so many things you can say about a 12-foot putt that breaks right to left. Exciting, right?
I think the thing is to come up with new, innovative ideas like we’re doing this week and have various analysts talking about it. I just think one lead guy all the time, it kind of just rubs people — like I told them, there’s only so many times I can come up with something interesting to say. If I worked four days a week, 20 weeks a year, I think everybody would get sick of it, even me. I think you can have a really analytical player that talks about all the different fundamentals and exactly what’s going on or that tries to do a little bit of that and a little bit of giving you some insight, or you can have a guy that’s on the whole other side that just wants to tell stories all the time about their playing career.
I try to fit a little bit of all facets. I try to tell some stories about guys, try to tell about some times I played the course, and then I try to be analytical and maybe discuss some things that people don’t understand about the game.
GWK: Is there someone that nobody is thinking of that you think could be pretty good at it?
KK: I would love to have Boo Weekley up there. I think he would be hilarious talking about golf and telling stories. Just his accent alone but that’s not going to be great for the masses. Or you could go with a guy like Brandt Snedeker that’s super analytical and still be a pretty good smart ass too. But his Vanderbilt ass probably thinks he’s too cool to do something like that.
GWK: How do you define media in this day and age?
KK: Well, I feel like everybody is the media, right, because everybody is so self-serving on social media that they’re trying to promote themselves through all avenues, so isn’t everybody a part of the media anymore that is trying to advertise or talk about themselves? I think it’s a very interesting question because you can pretty much control your own narrative through your own channels if you want to. I think we’re all part of it. Like 10 years ago, I felt like if I wanted to say something, I would have to call you, right? I don’t look at you anymore thinking, I need you on my team to help me get out my story. I think we all work together to try to tell the people who you truly are.
GWK: It’s certainly changed. I’m just curious, where do you draw the line?
KK: The way I’ve always looked at it is I’ve used the podcast and people’s channels as kind of my off-the-cuff stuff and I use the print journalists as more my professional stuff. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong or how you rate that. But if somebody really wants to see what I’m like off the golf course hanging out at home, I try to do that podcast. But if people want to see who I am with my sponsors and the things I’m trying to promote professionally, then I try to use my print media friends for that.
GWK: Have you seen the younger players want to control their message more?
KK: I think there’s too much agent involvement in the younger players. Guys are playing for so much money that they don’t know how to do things on their own as much as they used to.
GWK: Do you think pro golfers understand the importance of non-biased press?
KK: I don’t know, that’s a good question. Probably not the young guys at all, right? I would say they don’t understand the Golfweek articles and the other types of articles that are out there are helping them promote their brands and why they’re there, when they think, I can just go write it on X or put it on Instagram.
GWK: When you look back at your term on the PGA Tour policy board (2020-22), are you glad that you took the time to do it?
KK: Yeah, for sure. I accomplished the one goal I wanted — to find out everything that was going on because you hear so many rumors. So I enjoyed it.
It was probably not as rewarding as it could have been for the amount of time I put into it, but it was enjoyable and it accomplished a goal that I understand the PGA Tour way of business more.
GWK: How many of the 150-200 Tour members do you think actually care enough about the policies to dedicate the numerous hours to meetings, proposals, et cetera? How many just want to focus on their play?
KK: I’d say more want to know info now, but nobody wants to spend the amount of time that it takes, especially a young guy. He’s way too concerned with his career and getting it going and being exempt. I think that’s just the way the world works when it comes to that. You’re just not going to get Nick Dunlap to get excited about a policy board as you are Adam Scott.
GWK: During this time that you served on the Board, who impressed you with their involvement?
KK: I thought Charley Hoffman was the most impressive, removing himself from the picture and doing what was best for the whole Tour. I thought guys like Jordan Spieth had a hard time doing that because they’ve only been a superstar their whole life. They don’t understand the grind of getting on the PGA Tour. Now, Jordan tried his best to understand and vote fairly, but I thought Charley displayed the most in the four years I worked with him, even if it was totally against whatever category he was in at that time and would mess his world up, he still voted for what he thought was best for the Tour.
GWK: Do players have a bloated sense of their value? Is pro golf overvalued now?
KK: From a self-promoted point, within each individual Tour player, probably so. Obviously the golf is not overvalued. You’ve got guys that own football teams and baseball teams wanting to invest billions of dollars into our sport, so they think it’s undervalued, right? They’re no dummies, so from a valuation, I think it’s way undervalued, and I think the PGA Tour is learning that maybe they need to start getting really smart outside counsel on how to increase the value or to reap the benefits of the value that they may be missing. From a player standpoint, I think each individual player thinks their value to the Tour is greater than it is, for sure.
GWK: What would you like the Tour to do with potentially $3 billion?
KK: They’re never going to get $3 billion. I think they’re going to get one and a half. What are they going to do with it? I think they’re going to give that $900 million to smart guys that know how to run businesses that have done it all their lives and find the value and increase the value of the PGA Tour, and I think they’re going to put themselves in a great position to partner with the PIF and at some point all of us will be back playing golf together. That’s my big crystal ball.
GWK: Do you want Saudi Arabia involved in the PGA Tour?
KK: I have no problem with it. Saudi Arabia is involved with almost everything in the world. That whole argument is kaput in my opinion. We might as well not get an Amazon package if we don’t want Saudi Arabia involved, right?
GWK: Do you want Jay to remain commissioner?
KK: Tough question, man. I think that’s what those smart guys are there for. I’ve never run a Fortune 500 company. I’m not the guy to tell you who our leader should be. I’ve never had a history with Jay. I thought he’s always done what he’s thought was best for the PGA Tour, but I know he’s made lots of mistakes. I think the No. 1 mistake on the PGA Tour is communication. They always, always, always mess up the communication, in my opinion.
GWK: Let's finish up with a few more questions about your playing career. What was the biggest break or week of your career, that if it had gone another way your career would be very different?
KK: I think the close calls at the majors would be completely different. Winning that British Open at Carnoustie would have been a game changer or finishing off the PGA in Charlotte would have been an incredible highlight for sure.
GWK: On the flip side, if you hadn’t cashed a check at a mini-tour event or made a cut on KFT, would you have never made it at all?
KK: Early on, my dad gave me some money to start, and if I ran out of that money, I wasn’t going to be able to play anymore. I remember like my third tournament on the mini-tours, I won $16,000, and I was like, all right, I finally have some room to move where I feel like I can go stay in a hotel and I’m not begging people to stay at their house and wondering how I’m going to fill my car up to get to the next tournament.
GWK: What's the signature event that you feel like you have the best chance of winning one of the $20 million (or more) jackpots?
KK: Hilton Head (Harbour Town for the RBC Heritage) or the Travelers (at TPC River Highlands).
GWK: How much of that is length related?
KK: A lot of it. I love the small greens at Hilton Head because it really magnifies the putting. Everybody misses more greens, so you’re chipping four, six feet, par a lot of days, and if you’re hitting a lot of the greens, you’ve got birdie putts that you can make on every hole. At Travelers I can reach all the par-5s. That’s one of the big things I struggle with on Tour is let’s make these par-5s 620 yards. Well, that just makes me lay up and everyone else still be able to get there. When everybody can get to the par-5s, I feel like I can compete. Just like 15 this week (at TPC Scottsdale), I can’t get there unless I hit my best drive ever in the eight-yard wide area in the fairway that I have to hit to not go in the water or the rough where guys can just blow it in the right rough and still hit a 3-wood on the green.
GWK: Where do you stand on the rollback?
KK: I haven’t put enough effort into it to give you an opinion. I’ll believe it when I see it, and that’s kind of where I stand.
GWK: Do you think the ball goes too far?
KK: Well, I can tell you this: My opinion on the golf ball is there’s nobody that hits a draw anymore, and that’s because every kid grows up with a ball that doesn’t spin and a driver that doesn’t spin, so they all hit fades trying to get spin on the ball. When I was growing up, everybody hit a draw.
