Tiger Woods forced Jim Nantz to break golden rule that defined Rory McIlroy’s crowning moment

Jim Nantz has always trusted himself to find the right words in the heat of the moment, but Tiger Woods once made him change his policy that has defined triumphs for Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth

Jim Nantz knows the words he utters can last forever, but the CBS golf announcer insists that only once in his 40-year career did he prepare the line for the winning moment in advance.

That golden rule of staying in the moment and not thinking too far ahead has worked wonders for the 65-year-old, who will be responsible for calling the climax of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday.

The policy led to masterful calls that have become intertwined with those moments of triumph, from Jordan Spieth pulling off “one of the epic performances in the annals of the sport” at the 2015 Masters to Tiger Woods’ “return to glory” at Augusta National in 2019.

Nantz was in the broadcast tower last month for Rory McIlroy’s enthralling playoff victory over Justin Rose that ended a 10-year major drought and clinched the final piece of the career grand slam.

“The long journey is over, McIlroy has his masterpiece,” the announcer said before barely speaking for the next seven minutes, with Nantz and broadcast partner Trevor Immelman astutely allowing the emotionally-charged pictures to do almost all of the talking.

Nantz says those calls were improvised, perfect encapsulations of careers and journeys dreamt up as the crowning moment neared. However, he admits Woods once forced him to change his approach, such was the dominance of his breakthrough victory at Augusta in 1997.