Nick Faldo retires as CBS golf analyst with tearful on-air farewell

Nick Faldo, a mainstay of golf broadcasting for the last 16 years, signed off from his final broadcast on Sunday at the Sedgefield Country Club, the site of his PGA Tour debut back in 1979.

Faldo's longtime broadcast partner Jim Nantz and colleagues Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo celebrated his retirement (and his long career in the booth) with a standing ovation. When it came time for Faldo to speak, he was too choked up at first, bursting into tears before saying his goodbyes and thank yous.

After he collected himself, Faldo began by recounting the moment he was asked to join the golf broadcast, something he remembers to this day.

“I was in a boat in Ireland, and they gave me a call and said, ‘How would you like to sit next to Jim Nantz?’ and I literally fell out the boat, I really did. That was 2006, and here we are 16 years later,” Faldo said.

He mentioned what Nantz, Baker-Finch, and Nobilo mean to him, not just as coworkers and friends, but as family.

“I’m a single child,” Faldo said. “And I’ve found, at 65, three brothers. Thank you.”

Faldo also gave credit to the many hardworking crews he's worked with over the years.

“Thanks to all the crew,” Faldo said. “As I affectionately and respectfully call you the workers, they put the pictures out, we do the rattling, we have an easy job. Thank you all.”

The PGA Tour put together a compilation of some of the best and funniest moments from Faldo's broadcasting career.

This will be the first time in 46 years that Faldo won't be playing or broadcasting golf professionally. He turned pro in 1976 at just 19, and after winning 6 majors he signed a contract with CBS in 2006 as his professional playing career was winding down. Ever since then, he's become part of the natural rhythm and routine of golf, able to give emotional heft to important moments and delivering laughs with his dry English wit.

Faldo said on the broadcast that he and his wife are planning on spending time at their farm in Montana. He even held up a book about raising miniature cows as pets. Hopefully Faldo will enjoy his retirement — and presumably his miniature pet cows.