CBS Golf hires Johnson Wagner, completes 2026 broadcast team

Two years ago, on the incredibly hot practice floor at the US Open, Johnson Wagner arrived.

Not that Wagner was unknown in these parts before coming to Pinehurst – Wagner played on two US Opens, in 2004 and 2007, before arriving at the national championship as a broadcaster in 2024. Before joining Golf Channel in 2020, he was a successful PGA Tour player for more than a decade, earning $12.5 million on the course and winning three times.

But it wasn’t until the US Open at Pinehurst, weeks after he aired portions of the potentially infamous course on the Golf Channel, that Wagner transitioned from TV commentator to Internet sensation.

He stepped outside, wearing a navy blue NBC Sports polo over his six-foot-three frame, his black mustache glistening in the sun. And, because he stuck around, it wasn’t long before the well-wishers came. Some broadcasters first, then fellow members, and before long, players and caddies.

It had been a confusing few weeks for Wagner before that US Open. First, at The Players Championship, The Golf Channel had announced plans for Wagner to try a new content idea: “simulating” the big golf news of the day. At the time, it looked like Wagner would use his pedigree to get fans deep into the gun and the big moments. But a different result was seen on Friday afternoon.

After a few days of sloppy chips and hearty laughs, cameras caught Wagner lifting golf balls into the bank on the left side of the 7th hole at TPC Sawgrass with a crow-hop. One viral video led to another, and then another, and then, finally, to Pinehurst Tuesday, where everyone he met had the same reaction with a grin.

“Thanks for the laugh.”

Two years later, that Tuesday at Pinehurst stands out as everything changed for Wagner.

After two years at the top of Golf Channel, sources confirmed that CBS had hired Wagner as a continuing commentator, replacing Colt Knost as the network’s “travel reporter” behind industry legend Dottie Pepper.

Wagner’s ascension to CBS caps a season of transition at the network following the departure of longtime analyst Ian Baker-Finch. Baker-Finch’s place in the CBS “super booth” will be filled by Knost, who is stepping up after five years as the network’s on-course analyst, and Knost’s spot on the course will be filled by Wagner. According to the same sources, Wagner will not continue in his viral role Live Fromalthough they could rerun segments in the same CBS style.

For CBS, the previous sentence is the only case needed to justify Wagner’s hiring. Most viewers know Wagner in late 2025 simply because of his social media escapades, meaning they know him primarily as a form of entertainment. Wagner won’t do much to disprove those allegations: His hiring at CBS wouldn’t have been possible without the viral, social-media parts of the past two years, and hell, he sure looks the part. His stocky, mustachioed build gives him the typical look of a newsman from the 1970s, while his penchant for close-to-the-hosel shots of short games is unparalleled in current (or previous) golf media. CBS won’t dispute the value of Wagner’s comedic timing, either: Laughter can be medicine during the empty hours of mid-July PGA Tour radio, and Wagner’s ability to create viral moments works in a media environment increasingly dominated by “personality.”

But the the original aside, Wagner’s employment at CBS has nothing to do with his current standing as a golfer. Perhaps Wagner’s best moment as a broadcaster came a year before anyone knew him as a TV talking head: His PGA Tour leadership of several minutes and their messages after the dramatic PGA Tour/PIF merger of June 6, 2023. Wagner will enter a career defined above all by his ability to communicate his thoughts and feelings to sports viewers honestly, often his feelings about the world of TV sports. Wagner’s ability to achieve his own integrity represents the gold standard of CBS.

Well, you probably didn’t know that. One of the biggest pitfalls of social media is its tendency to cloud our view of the world around us. In an environment built on attention-grabbing algorithms and bite-sized pieces of content, we’re built to see people on social media as two-dimensional caricatures.

Wagner’s biggest opportunity and toughest challenge at CBS will change from the former to the latter — and while CBS won’t say it, they’re betting.

***

Sunday evening at the US Open at Pinehurst in 2024, I found Johnson Wagner on the verge of changing hearts and minds. The tournament was long over, and now, as he stood in the dark near the 18th green, Wagner would deliver the last of his parts for the week.

It’s been another week of lung-piercing disasters for Wagner at the national championships. His Golf Channel co-hosts couldn’t suppress their laughter as the latest laugh track about cheap chips and dinked putts rolled across the screen — and neither could Wagner. He took the week by storm, watching as his social media followers grew under his misfortune.

Now, on Sunday, it was time for the granddaddy of them all: Wagner’s attempt to recreate Bryson DeChambeau’s impossible shot from the green on the 18th hole to win the US Open. While the team waited, I watched one cameraman tell another – who was standing over Pinehurst. the clubhouse100 yards away — being more aware of the ball heading in his direction. Soon, DeChambeau arrived in a cart carrying the trophy, and the cameras flashed.

After a short introduction and a slow walk from DeChambeau, Wagner reached his limit and sat on the sand. A few seconds later, he emerged from the dirt and watched as his ball flew into the sky, landed on the cement and came to rest three feet from the flag… inside of DeChambeau’s sign from a few hours earlier.

I’d like to think Wagner was surprised as his ball settled down, ending his week with one last viral video — this time as a US Open champion.

But maybe that was just me.