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Fox Sports Kicks Greg Norman Off USGA Team

Fox Sports has shocked the golf world by announcing that its lead golf analyst, Greg Norman will no longer appear on USGA telecasts.

The press release:

FOX Sports announces that they will be making a change to their commentary team, and Greg Norman will not return to the network’s USGA Championships coverage in 2016. The announcement was made today by John Entz, President of Production & Executive Producer, FOX Sports.norman fox

Both parties have agreed to an amicable separation and will continue to work together to broadcast the Franklin Templeton Shootout, which remains an important part of FOX Sports’ golf platform.

“After careful consideration, we have decided to make this change to our USGA Championships coverage,” said John Entz. “We want to thank Greg for his contributions last year, and wish him success in all his current and future endeavors.”

“I put a lot into my role this past year and really enjoyed the time I spent with the commentary team,” said Norman. “I have a long history with FOX and wish them well on their journey showcasing USGA Championships. I also want to thank David Hill (former Head of FOX Sports) and the USGA for believing in me and instilling their vote of confidence in me from the outset.”

The change is happening only one season after Fox premiered its USGA coverage it earned by signing a twelve year, $1.1 billion deal.

Reviews of Fox’s coverage of the U.S. Open from Chambers Bay were tepid at best and scathing at worst.

Norman was criticized for appearing unprepared, disengaged and uninformed on many of the players.

Golf.com quotes an inside source as saying this in not an amicable departure but rather a firing of the Great White Shark.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said Norman wasn’t very good on the air because “he didn’t do his homework and he didn’t know any players who weren’t Australian.”Norman just wasn’t engaged in any of the FOX telecasts the way the network had hoped, the source said.

“It was tough for the whole staff because he wasn’t involved in the shows like a lead analyst should be,”the source said. “Maybe he thought just being Greg Norman was enough. He’s been successful in everything he’s done in business but he wasn’t good at TV. He was a team player but when the cameras turned on, he just went silent.”

The Fox coverage looked amateurish at times and Norman’s departure, firing or not, opens the door for a more experienced voice in the analysts chair. Rumors are pointing towards the well respected Paul Azinger who is still hanging on with ESPN’s diminished coverage.

Azinger would be a big boost to Fox’s profile as Zinger is actually an analyst and a good one.

Norman’s problem was that he wasn’t really an analyst, he was just Greg Norman.

He likes to call himself “A Living Brand” and while that may work in the board room when he closes business deals it wasn’t enough for him just to be “Greg Norman” during telecasts.

We fans and Fox as well expected insight, inside information and actual analysis of the golf we are watching. Norman provided little of that.

As mutual as the separation appears this is a blow to The Shark’s ego and the one thing that is bigger than his brand is his ego.

Fox and us fans will be better off for it. Bring on Zinger.

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