Gary McCord Explained the Comment That Got Him Banned From Masters Broadcast

On a recent podcast episode, McCord elaborated on the inspiration and the aftermath of the controversial word choice.

Gary McCord and Peter Kostis may have been booted from CBS’s golf broadcast team in 2019, but they are not done sharing tales from their years covering the sport. The pair of analysts recently started a new video podcast called “Kostis & McCord: Off Their Rockers,” and in the second episode, McCord explained some key context behind his infamous expulsion from the Masters broadcast in 1994. 

McCord was removed from the Augusta National lineup after he made an outlandish joke about the greens at the world-famous golf course. “I don’t think they mow these greens,” McCord said on the 1994 broadcast. “I think they bikini wax them.” 

During the video podcast, McCord admitted that when the incident occurred, he was sitting on the 17th hole tower and got inspiration for the line during a commercial break.

“As you know, I put magazines up there with me, and all I do is read. I get words, I ingest the words into my head. Any words whatsoever,” McCord said. McCord then explained that during one break in the coverage, he stumbled across an advertisement for a spa near his home in Escondido, Calif., which ultimately helped the green-speed joke come together as Jose Maria Olazabal was putting. 

McCord said he didn’t hear anything about the controversial line until three days later, when he was called into the office of Frank Chirkinian, the director for CBS’s coverage of the Masters at the time. According to McCord, the producer showed him a hand-crafted letter from two-time Masters winner Tom Watson. Watson called McCord a “lesion” on the sport and the “Howard Stern” of golf, insisting on his removal from the Augusta broadcast team. 

A couple of months later, McCord was indeed scrapped from the CBS Masters lineup. The following year, McCord confronted Watson at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in a heated conversation at their hotel, but they have since repaired their relationship. 

“That’s the story. It’s off my chest.” McCord said.