The Augusta National is all set to host the 2026 Masters starting next week. The tournament and even the small programs that will be held on the course during tournament week are creating a ton of buzz in the golf world. Especially, the Par 3 contest, which is scheduled for Wednesday, April 8, is one of these small programs that is very special for the fans. A lot of golfers will enter with their spouse or child as a caddie in this event.
For the golfers and their families, the Par 3 contest will be a nine-hole campaign with the lowest score person winning it all. To make it even more memorable for the fans, ESPN has chosen to have NFL legend Jason Kelce report on the course on Wednesday’s special show. Yahoo Sports gave an update on this on its X account, highlighting Kelce’s golf-related activities. It read
“ESPN is shipping Jason Kelce off to The Masters next week, per @_DavidRumsey. Kelce will serve as an on-course reporter during the Par 3 contest at August after making his debut at TGL earlier this month.”
Interestingly, golf fans blasted the decision and asserted that Jason Kelce lacks the Masters’ elegance. The former NFL player and ESPN received a lot of backlash for taking this action in the post’s comments. Some fans even went so far as to say that the 2026 Masters would be their final Augusta National tournament as a result of this decision.
Talking more about these fans’ comments, here’s a look at a few of them:
“What happened to the class and tradition of this tournament? This is an insult and very surprising from Augusta National. Might as well play at a trailer park if they’re going to have this idiot commentating.” One fan stated.
“the masters is a tradition that cannot be matched. it doesn’t need some overpaid comedian. leave it to ESPN to ruin this as well.” One fan pointed out.
“I wish this was an April Fools joke,” another fan stated.
“Welp……loos like this’ll be the last year that ESPN has any coverage of The Masters.” one fan explained.
“Dumbest thing PGA is doing. But wait something else will take its place soon,” another fan stated.
Apart from ESPN, SiriusXM has also made some changes in its coverage schedule for the first golf major, and a well-known TGL figure is now planned to join them.
Tiger Woods’ TGL teammate will be joining SiriusXM for the 2026 Masters
Tiger Woods has opted to withdraw his name from the 2026 Masters after much back and forth, but it appears that one of his TGL teammates will play a significant role in the tournament. This teammate is none other than Kevin Kisner, who was recently announced as SiriusXM’s special golf analyst. He will be on the radio during the last two rounds of the 2026 Masters.
Josh Carpenter revealed this in an X post that read,
“SiriusXM says Kevin Kisner will be one of its lead analysts on radio for @TheMasters alongside Taylor Zarzour next week. Kisner will be the lead analyst Saturday/Sunday. Brad Faxon and Brendon de Jonge on Thursday/Friday.”
The Masters will begin play on April 9, and the field appears to be somewhat unpredictable thus far.
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