Before PGA Championship tournament play gets underway Thursday at Rochester's Oak Hill, the club honored one of the voices of the game, adding a veteran CBS Sports announcer to its "Hill of Fame."
Chilly weather pushed the ceremony on Wednesday afternoon inside as bagpipers led Jim Nantz to the podium, where he was introduced by CBS Sports president Sean McManus. Nantz said that McManus' father, the legendary Jim McKay of ABC Sports, gave him some early advice about how to communicate on the air, which led him to his famous opening line.
"Don't think about the tens of millions of people who are watching," Nantz said. "Think about conversing with one person. I understood what he said. I never quite was able to pull it off though until the first time I said ‘Hello, friends.’"
For Nantz, that one person continues to be his late father, who died of Alzheimer's disease 15 years ago. He started a foundation for Alzheimer's research, which drew big donations from Bills fans and players when Nantz's mother also died last fall, the week before he called a Bills game.
Nantz had big praise for Bills Mafia, for western New York and especially for the redesigned Oak Hill course.
"I've been around a lot of major championships, and this isn't a coastal course like my home back in Pebble Beach, but this is as stunning visually as anything I've ever seen, and we will say that on the air this weekend," he said.
The Bills' Josh Allen was on hand for the presentation - and so was retired Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim.
"He's a great guy, I mean there's nobody better at what he does, and he makes you feel like you're part of his family, and that's pretty special," said Boeheim, who attended with his wife, Juli.
Nantz is the first broadcaster to be added to the Hill of Fame. It was also Nantz's 64th birthday - and the ceremony concluded with a birthday cake.
