{"id":435950,"date":"2025-07-23T18:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=435950"},"modified":"2025-07-23T18:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:02:07","slug":"ian-baker-finch-retires-from-broadcasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/ian-baker-finch-retires-from-broadcasting\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Baker-Finch Retires From Broadcasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2025, there has been a lot of retirement talk.\u00a0 Rory McIlroy set himself to retire before fifty<\/a>.\u00a0 There is a lot of speculation that it is time for Tiger Woods to step aside<\/a> and give himself some time to rest, after being called the most underachieving golfer<\/a>.\u00a0 Recently, however, it was announced that another legend in the sport is stepping aside from his role after 19 years.\u00a0 He was a former Open champion, but he is much more known for his role in sports broadcasting.\u00a0 It was announced that Ian Baker-Finch will be leaving CBS at the end of the 2025 season and will continue his life in retirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ian Baker-Finch\u2019s Career<\/span><\/h2>\n

Although today Finch is best known for his broadcasting career, he started out as a pro golfer from Australia back in 1979 when he went pro.\u00a0 He played in 167 PGA Tour events, made 92 cuts, and made the top ten 23 times.\u00a0 He only has two PGA victories under his belt, including the 1989 Southwestern Bell Colonial, but also the 1991 Open Championship.\u00a0 Throughout the nineties, he started falling behind in the sport.\u00a0 Against his wishes, he decided it was time to retire from tournaments in 1997.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t compete again until 2013 when he entered the Champions Tour, but would occasionally join a tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

His broadcasting career officially began in 1998 when ESPN and ABC brought him on. \u00a0 Starting out as a commentator, Finch would work for the two for the next eight years.\u00a0 He was a hole announcer for ABC, and a lead analyst for ESPN.\u00a0 Although Finch was also an occasional lead analyst for\u00a0 ABC until he left in 2007.\u00a0 That was when he was hired by CBS, where he will stay until he officially retires.<\/span><\/p>\n

An official announcement was made on the official CBS Sports PR Twitter account<\/a>.\u00a0 The announcement also mentioned that Finch\u2019s last broadcast will be at the Wyndham Championship in August in just under two weeks.\u00a0 The comments which is filled with fans and colleagues wishing him the best of luck in the years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Retirement<\/span><\/h2>\n

Ian Baker-Finch has left a massive impact on broadcasting for golf.\u00a0 He became one of the most trusted voices in his field.\u00a0 Finch looks back on his broadcasting career and feels a sense of pride in what he has done.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs I step away, I carry with me immense gratitude and pride for the moments we\u2019ve shared on and off the course,\u201d Baker-Finch said. \u201cHere\u2019s to new adventures and the enduring love of golf.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

David Berson, the president and CEO of CBS Sports, had this to say about Finch\u2019s departure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFinchy will always be part of the CBS Sports family, and we thank him for being an incredible teammate and friend, and for his immeasurable contributions over the past 19 years at CBS.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With Finch leaving at the end of the season, he has left some big shoes to fill.\u00a0 It will be incredibly difficult to find someone who can fit them the same way that Finch has.\u00a0 For now, though, his friends and colleagues are wishing him the best as he leaves for a much-deserved retirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit:\u00a0 \u00a9 Michael Madrid-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2025, there has been a lot of retirement talk.\u00a0 Rory McIlroy set himself to retire before fifty.\u00a0 There is a lot of speculation that it is time for Tiger Woods to step aside and give himself some time to rest, after being called the most underachieving golfer.\u00a0 Recently, however, it was announced that another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5429,"featured_media":435951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,246,19,46],"tags":[8154],"class_list":["post-435950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-golf-news","category-pga","category-sports-history","tag-ian-baker-finch"],"modified_by":"Taylor Craig","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435952,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435950\/revisions\/435952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}