The newest voice of CBS Golf has an unorthodox superpower

Every now and then a TV talent announces themselves to the world so clearly and distinctly that the entire industry stands up to meet them.

Vacancies are flying out of the trees. Networks are opening their checkbooks. Fans are watching the star’s next move with bated breath.

This is not one of those stories.

There are many ways to understand Johnson Wagner’s meteoric rise in the golf world, from fringe professional to walking reporter for CBS, his new employers starting this week at Torrey Pines. But perhaps the best way to recognize Wagner is for who he is: one of sports TV’s biggest underdogs.

Wagner wasn’t a social media celebrity when he was hired part-time at Golf Channel in 2022. He didn’t have a litany of major championship successes or a long history of compelling podcast interviews. Most weeks, the most attention he generated during his playing career was a mild fascination with the phonetics of his jeans brand name.

The anonymity was not a dealbreaker for the network or the broadcaster. Golf Channel knew Wagner’s reputation as one of golf’s most likable professionals. And at age 42, Wagner was undeceived about the “weight” of his “celebrity” after two decades and a handful of wins on the PGA Tour. He just wanted a chance to prove himself.

“My goal was to say yes to everything,” Wagner says. “I just wanted to be as useful and productive as possible.”

The levity helped. Wagner’s first few days at Golf Channel were challenging. He felt uncomfortable in front of the camera. His analysis was calm and level. He felt like he was having trouble getting the words out.

He was certainly not the first. Much – if not most – athletes-turned-broadcasters struggle in front of the camera in the early years of a career. It makes sense: the subject may be familiar, but the discipline is new and the terrain is foreign. It’s hard to be humble in general, but that’s how it is more difficult when you have spent the vast majority of your life among the best in the world in your chosen profession. To face both realities while standing in front of a national television audience? Well, it’s not hard to see why so many athletes find retired life appealing after a year with the network.

Wagner wishes he could say that he was undeterred by the early struggles – that his instincts as an entertainer took over without any persuasion – but that would be a lie. He survived those first few days not because he was better, but because he was willing to admit that he wasn’t. As he tried to gain a foothold, he reached out to the TV professionals around him (and below him) with an unusually candid question: Any advice?

“It was the day I fell in love with TV, and it was my third day at Golf Channel,” Wagner says, recalling the pep talk from a segment producer named Harris Chang that changed everything.

“We went out to dinner last night, had a beer and talked golf — that’s who we want to see on the air,” Chang told Wagner. “I don’t know if you’re trying to act like Brandel [Chamblee]but we just want you to be yourself.”

“I took it to heart,” Wagner said.

It was a pivotal moment for Wagner as a TV broadcaster, but perhaps not in the way he thought. From that day on, Wagner had built a reputation as a consummate teammate – the kind of broadcaster who would go anywhere, tackle any assignment and approach any challenge with good humor. People across the sector noticed this.

“I think what he brought from his playing days to his broadcasting days was an element of vulnerability,” says Dottie Pepper, Wagner’s new teammate (and CBS’s chief walking reporter). “He struggled in parts of the game and he never hid behind it. I think that will be super valuable.”

For a long time, Wagner’s growth manifested itself quietly. Occasionally, fans or fellow Tour professionals would stop him to share positive feedback (or, more often, admiration for his mustache).

Eventually people moved on. Wagner’s voice was thoughtful and his analysis studied and sincere. His teammates enjoyed working with him. His bosses at Golf Channel pushed him into bigger roles.

Those little moments boiled over in the spring of 2024, when Golf Channel encouraged Wagner to try a new segment on Live From that recreated the most important moment of each day. (Years earlier, the idea had been originated, with some success, by one of Wagner’s golfing heroes – and now CBS teammate – Frank Nobilo.)

The conceit was that Wagner’s analysis would take fans deeper into the difficulty of tournament golf shots and the skill level required to execute them, but the outcome looked a lot like Bill Murray’s joke that every Olympic competition should include a normal person for reference. Wagner stepped in front of the camera looking serious and focused… and then he made a wedge shot. And then another. And then another. Until he had left so many that even he could no longer contain his laughter. The video generated significant viral traction.

A few days later, Wagner was back in action after a remarkable fall from Rory McIlroy. He almost threw out his shoulder and crashed a golf ball into the side of a hill to simulate the situation. Another social media clip, another viral video. Then came the weekend. Another shaft. More virality.

By the time he arrived at the US Open at Pinehurst two months later, Wagner was a celebrity. By the end of the week – and beyond improve Bryson DeChambeau’s heroic, tournament-winning bunker shot late Sunday night: He was a folk hero. The TV industry took notice. Finally, Wagner was aware… and ready.

“There were times in my playing career where I maybe got a little lazy, when everything felt easy. So when I started in TV, I wanted to climb as high as I could,” Wagner says. “I know I don’t have the qualifications to be a Johnny Miller or Trevor Immelman. But I want to be the best I can be.”

The irony, of course, is that Wagner’s “everyman credentials” are essential to his viral success. The accidents happened organically, but they are only funny because Wagner is not a great champion. Without Wagner’s sense of self, his segments would have welcomed cringes rather than chuckles. Its recognizability is its essence.

“He has shown vulnerability in his Live from segments, [he showed it] when he first started broadcasting, he asked for help,” says Pepper. “Vulnerability is going to be key as he continues to try to keep that polish going, because he’s gotten better and better and better.”

Ultimately, the climax of Wagner’s TV underdog story wasn’t precise Rudi. Ian Baker-Finch retired from his position on the CBS Golf booth and Colt Knost moved up to replace him. That landed him a spot on the CBS Golf team as the third walking reporter behind Pepper and Mark Immelman. Although Wagner had only been a walking reporter a few times at Golf Channel and NBC, CBS was interested in what they had heard and seen. An offer came and Wagner accepted.

“I still can’t believe it,” Wagner says now. “I started in TV three years ago. Now I work at CBS. It’s incredible.”

Fear not, golf fans: As part of his job at CBS, Wagner will be bringing his Live from segments with him. He says the exact dimensions of those efforts are still taking shape, but its importance to Wagner’s promotion is hard to ignore.

“If my role hadn’t been there Live from“I don’t think I would have qualified for this job,” Wagner admits. “It’s definitely made me who I am in terms of broadcasting, and interacting with fans at major championships is shocking that they know who I am and they enjoy watching me.”

Shocking it maybe, but not for everyone. To know what makes Wagner a good fit for this promotion — and for the jobs that will follow — you don’t need to understand the nuance of the broadcast or the skills of the broadcast.

Only a much more human superpower: humility.

“I have to prove myself,” he says. “I don’t want to become complacent in a role and think: I’m too good for this, or I’m too good for that. To start again at the beginning, with a new channel, with a new company – that is which is keeping me motivated at the moment.”