The new voice of televised golf... and she's ...
Meredith Vierra?
Nope. Here's Kelly Tilghman. Not a man. A woman, who many golf bloggers find to be the sexiest female in sports broadcasting.
For what that's worth.
When the Golf Channel starts broadcasting PGA Tour events next year -- 43 events in all, if you'd missed the memo on that one, including the first three events of the season --Tilghman will be the first female, full-time play-by-play golf commentator in the history of television, working with Nick Faldo (who also recently signed on with CBS to do their golf events).
Her credentials:
-- A former LPGA Tour pro who has been with The Golf Channel since its inception and has worked her way up through a variety of roles, according to TGC press release.
The six-handicapper out of Duke, according to her bio, also finds Monty Python's "Holy Grail" as her favorite flick.
OK, she's in.
Which means, when the Golf Channel starts on Jan. 4 at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii, Tilghman will have the call, Faldo is the lead analyst, Rich Lerner as the host/reporter/essayist, Mark Rolfing is at the 17th tower, and Dottie Pepper, Rocco Mediate and Jerry Foltz are course reporters. Peter Oosterhuis will also join the group at most events.
Every PGA Tour official event either begins or airs entirely on The Golf Channel. During early-round, Thursday-Friday telecasts, the network also will incorporate CBS and NBC broadcasters.
The Golf Channel, currently in about 90 million cable homes, will start a new 15-year deal with the PGA.