Fox Sports’ first major golf hire has been shown the door.
Fox Sports announced Monday that it has parted ways with golf analyst Greg Norman after just one year on the job, characterizing the move as an “amicable separation.” The move was an open secret by the time it was announced, having already been reported by Golf Digest, Golf Week, Links Magazine, GeoffShackelford.com and Golf.com.
Norman was the first person FOX hired for its golf coverage, with the network reaching out to him within days of acquiring U.S. Open rights in 2013 — two years before its debut telecast. His ouster represents one of the more abrupt about faces in recent sports media history.
Multiple outlets cited poor on-air performance as the reason for the decision. An anonymous source told Golf.com that Norman “didn’t do his homework,” “didn’t know any players who weren’t Australian,” and contributed little for a lead analyst. Per Golf Week, FOX went as far as to add Brad Faxon as a second analyst for December’s Shark Shootout in the “hope” that it would “force Norman to become more engaged in the broadcast.”
As FOX noted in Monday’s press release, it “will continue to work together” with Norman on the Shark Shootout.
(Mon. news from Fox Sports, with additional info from Golf Digest, Golf Week, Golf.com)
