Verne Lundquist called his final college football game at the 2016 SEC Championship, but the legendary broadcaster couldn’t give up one of his favorite plum jobs, coming out of hiatus once a year to partake in the Masters.
Lundquist, now 83, hinted in previous years that he might stop his annual trek to Augusta National after his 40th year of broadcasting the event, and on Wednesday he made it official — the 2024 Masters will be his last behind the microphone.
Lundquist, whose famous calls at the Masters include Jack Nicklaus’ birdie putt on 17 – “Yes, Sir!” – in 1986 that gave him the lead and Tiger Woods’ dramatic chip-in birdie on the 16th hole – “In your life!”– in 2005, admittedly doesn’t get around like he used to. The national broadcaster has a home in picturesque Steamboat Springs, Colorado, while he and his wife, Nancy, purchased a small condo in Austin, where he attended high school and started his illustrious career.
Yes Sir!
As Verne Lundquist gets set to call his 40th Masters on CBS in April, he has announced that it will be his final Masters for the Network. pic.twitter.com/y9VxlliQKJ
— Golf on CBS
(@GolfonCBS) February 14, 2024
During a podcast done in 2022 with the Ringer, Lundquist said he had a plan in place for the finale after talking with CBS Sports executives.
“Sean (McManus, CBS Sports Chairman) and I had a recent talk about my work at Augusta,” Lundquist said at the time. “But in all likelihood, number 40 will likely be my last. Just because it will be time. I think that’s the plan.”
Lundquist’s call as the Dallas Cowboys radio voice of Jackie Smith’s drop in Super Bowl XIII remains one of his most recognizable. And he was the voice of SEC football on CBS as well as a yearly contributor during the NCAA Tournament for decades. He has made occasional cameos outside of golf in recent years, like one before Georgia and Alabama kicked off in the 2023 SEC championship game.
But when it comes to golf, little tops Lundquist’s call of Nicklaus’ putt at the 17th hole of the final round of the 1986 Masters. We all know the call – “Maybe … Yes, sir!” – that would mark Nicklaus’ final push in a stunning Masters win at the age of 46.
Of course, Lundquist was also the TV announcer for the golf classic “Happy Gilmore,” the Adam Sandler movie about a failed hockey player who takes his talents to the golf course in order to save his grandmother’s house. The comedy has undeniably become a part of golf’s culture.
The Masters will be held at Augusta National Golf Club from April 11-14.