A sports broadcasting legend is stepping away for good.
Verne Lundquist is fully retiring after his 40th Masters telecast this coming April, CBS announced on Wednesday.
Lundquist, 83, has been hinting that this decision was coming for a couple of years.
“Sean [McManus, outgoing CBS Sports Chairman] and I had a recent talk about my work at Augusta,” Lundquist said in 2022 on the Ringer’s “Press Box” podcast.
“But in all likelihood, number 40 will likely be my last. Just because it will be time. I think that’s the plan.”
Lundquist’s voice will forever be associated with the event, thanks to two of the most famous calls in Augusta’s famed history.
Lundquist exclaimed, “Maybe…Yes, sir!” when a 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus birdied 17 as he stormed back to win the 1986 Masters.
He was also on the mic when Tiger Woods made his famous chip on 16 and perfectly punctuated the moment as the ball finally dropped in the hole with, “In your life, have you seen anything like that?!”
The popular and affable Lundquist retained his customary 16th hole on the Masters in recent years after walking away from his roles as a play-by-play broadcaster for CBS’ college football and basketball coverage.
He stepped away from college football after the 2016 season, and told The Post a year later it meant he got to watch more of the sport live on TV than ever.
“I know more about college football now than I ever did in all those years of doing the SEC,” Lundquist, said in 2017.
“Nancy, my wife, loves college football as I do. So, we’ve given ourselves over to it on Saturday. We start at 10 o’clock our time (in Colorado) and she finally gives up when the ABC game is over at night, but I just keep going.
“It’s been fascinating for me to watch the different broadcasts and how each unit approaches the games. I am very loyal to our guys and I don’t think I’ve missed a minute, except for that one game [a blowout he turned off for another game] … It has been fun because when you’re involved and getting ready for a game, you are worried about that game. I do believe I have a much broader perspective of what’s going on in college football.”
In 2017, Lundquist called his final NCAA Tournament games for CBS.
In addition to the games he called, Lundquist will also forever be known to a generation of comedy fans for his role in the 1996 Adam Sandler classic, “Happy Gilmore”.
