Fox Sports is looking to take a bite out of the big task of identifying talent that will make up the team which will broadcast USGA events beginning in 2015.
According to a Golf World report, Fox Sports has asked Greg Norman if he would take the job as lead analyst for their golf coverage.
Norman is friends with David Hill, senior vice president for News Corp., who previously ran Fox Sports Media Group before managing Fox's two music-based reality shows, "American Idol" and 'The X Factor."
If Norman and Fox can agree to a deal, it would be a great fit. Norman would get the platform that could help his other ventures, including wine making and course design, while only having to be on the air one week per year. Fox would get a very reputable analyst that hasn't done the job before, avoiding a retread that might fly in the face of its promise to "revolutionize" how the game is broadcast on TV.
In one sense, however, a Fox-Norman relationship would be a retread. When Norman floated the concept of a World Tour in 1994, it was Fox who agreed in principle to air the tournaments that would make up the series. Then PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem began the World Golf Championships series, essentially killing Norman's aspirations.
However, it remains unclear who Fox Sports is considering to be the anchor of the coverage that would join Norman in the 18th tower. They could go with talent already under contract, like Gus Johnson or Joe Buck, or pluck someone from NBC Sports Groups, CBS or ESPN.
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