Q&A: Emilia Migliaccio on Broadcasting College Golf, Being Critical on Air and a Busy U.S. Open
Emilia Migliaccio could have turned professional—easily. The recent Wake Forest University graduate has won some of the country’s top amateur events, played on two winning USA Curtis Cup teams and helped her alma mater capture its first NCAA team title. In 2021, her powerful swing was broadcasted to a national audience when she finished runner-up at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
If Migliaccio’s resume sounds like the perfect foundation for a budding LPGA career, that’s because it is. But the 24-year-old has simply decided to take a different path. A few years into her college career, Migliaccio scored an internship with Golf Channel. With a lifetime of accrued golf knowledge and an academic background in communications, she was a natural on the media side of things. The professional game might not have been Migliaccio’s calling, but that didn’t mean she’d have to give up being on the road.
Migliaccio serves as an on-course reporter for NBC Sports, where she’s commentating on the very events she was playing in not too long ago. Actually Migliaccio is still teeing it up in some of the events she’s working for NBC. At this summer’s U.S. Women’s Open, she was on double duty, commentating and competing at Pebble Beach as an amateur. Yes, her Whoop numbers were off the charts. (More on that later.)
But most recently, Migliaccio is diving into the college golf world. This week, she served as a roaming reporter during the new St. Andrews Links Collegiate, in which four U.S. golf teams—both men’s and women’s—played at the revered Scottish links. Golf Channel provided live coverage of the entire event as it has for several collegiate events in recent years. This year the network will offer more than 300 hours of live college golf coverage.
We caught up with Migliaccio to hear about her experience at the Home of Golf, her pitch for paying attention to college golf, and the absurd mileage she logs as an NBC commentator.
Sports Illustrated: How was St. Andrews?
Emilia Migliacco: It's been a dream. If I hadn’t made the decision my senior year of college to not turn pro, I would not be here. These last couple of years I’ve been able to experience the opportunities that golf brings you in a whole different way. And honestly, I like the cold. My mom is from Sweden. I'm used to this kind of weather, and there's also something special about it. I think Karen Stupples said it earlier this week: You almost wanna play in some bad weather here to say you've endured it.
SI: Why is it important for college golf events to be staged on historic venues like the Old Course?
EM: These are the future major champions—the future LPGA and PGA Tour stars. It’s amazing to be able to show these players on TV in their developmental stages when they're starting to peak. But also, when they do break out as stars—take Viktor Hovland, for example—I think it’s really cool that we’re able to pull footage from college events. It also gives these players a lot of great practice for when they are on Tour. To be playing in front of the camera, to be playing at a venue like the Old Course. It's an amazing experience whether you turn professional or not.
SI: As a former Division I player and now a broadcaster for NBC, why should viewers tune into college golf?
EM: It's completely organic. These are the future stars, but they’re not playing for money. Yes, there's NIL, but they're not thinking about NIL. They're playing for their team and something bigger than themselves. It's very raw and organic, and I think that's something that's missing a little bit right now on Tour. Money is important to talk about. People obviously need to be paid rightly for what they're doing. But there’s definitely an audience that wants to watch people who play golf simply because they love it.
SI: What makes college golf so refreshing?
EM: I think these players realize that they're entertainers. Playing the sport isn’t just transactional for them. They're playing because they genuinely love it, and you can see it on their faces. They're smiling, their teammates are cheering them on, they're waving. You can see it in their body language that they love what they're doing and it's very raw and organic. If you get too stuck thinking, “I need to get paid for everything I'm doing,” you can lose grasp of why you started playing golf to begin with.
SI: What has it been like to transition from a peer and fellow competitor to many of these players into a commentator, analyzing their games?
EM: It’s been fun. I can make people feel comfortable around me because I'm not that far removed from college golf and I'm really good friends with some of the players. But it’s hard when I have to maybe criticize a decision or ask them a hard question about that triple bogey they made. As a friend and as a former athlete, I know that no one likes those questions, but I have to ask them. I’ve learned to craft my questions in a way that's delicate and respectful. Whether they’re shining or maybe they have a setback, I love being able to highlight the big moments on TV.
SI: What is the most difficult part about broadcasting?
EM: I’m learning the balance between being insightful but not rambling. If you're watching four players hit a tee shot on a par-3, when you get to that fourth player, what are you gonna say that's interesting? How are you gonna add to the broadcast? I will also say remembering names when you're giving a presentation—it's a lot harder than you think. You have to give people a lot more sympathy when they mispronounce your name. I always used to say, “why do they say ‘Emily,’ it's obviously ‘Emilia.’” Now I’m like, “O.K., I totally get it.”
SI: How do you prepare for an event as an on-course commentator?
EM: If it works out with the schedule, I’ll go out and see the course beforehand and look at all the breaks on greens and get all the lines off the tees, and everything. I’ll watch some golf early before the show starts. The hosts and the analysts are kind of giving storylines, but I'll always talk to a couple of people and try to find any nuggets about the tournament week when I’m on the range talking to players. I’m also a very active person so I like to try to get a workout in before the day.
SI: Do you know how many steps you walk on an average day?
EM: I went on a run this morning. I’ve logged 14 miles and 27,000 steps. It seems like a lot, but I love it. A desk job wouldn’t be for me. I need to be moving. I have a lot of energy. So 30,000 steps just about gets that energy out.
SI: Earlier this summer you played in the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach and did live on-course commentary when you weren’t playing. What was that like, and would you do it again?
EM: I would do it every year if I could. I missed the cut, but what I remember from that week was pretty much everything before that. I was there for two full weeks playing a charity event. It was two days after my husband and I got married. I remember I made a 30-footer for par on the first hole, then I rolled in a birdie putt on the second hole. Charlie, my husband, his mom and his youngest brother were there. My college coach and her husband and son were there. They're hooting and hollering, and I was making up-and-down from everywhere. It was really exciting to be able to hit really big golf shots at a U.S. Open. So that's what I remember.
SI: As a former Curtis Cup teammate and friend of Rose Zhang’s, what has it been like to see her rise to stardom?
EM: I tell everyone that as good of a player she is—she's broken every amateur record on the men’s and women's side—she's an even better person. She is so genuine. My college coach Kim Lewellen was caddying at Liberty National, when Rose ended up winning her debut event, and the first thing she did when she saw Kim was run up to her and congratulate her on winning the NCAA championship (Wake Forest won this past year). She is always so happy for other people. That's why everyone loves her and roots for her. There are players that win all the time that you don’t want to root for. But there's no one who roots against Rose. It was so surreal to watch her at the Solheim Cup, and for her to have that opportunity as a rookie in only her 10th event as a pro.