Gary McCord

Early life and career

McCord was born in San Gabriel, California and raised in southern California, graduating from Ramona High School in Riverside. He was a two-time Division II All-American for the UC Riverside Highlanders of the University of California, Riverside. He won the NCAA Division II individual championship in 1970 and turned professional in 1971.

McCord played in 400 PGA Tour events, but never won. His best two finishes on the PGA Tour were at the Greater Milwaukee Open, placing second in both 1975 and 1977. During his years on tour, he had nearly two dozen top-10 finishes.

McCord was involved in an embarrassing episode during the 1984 FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis. When lining up a putt on the 15th green, McCord's pants split open, exposing his backside as he was not wearing any underwear. McCord wrapped a towel around his midriff, and went off to find a replacement pair of pants. Eventually Peter Jacobsen offered McCord his rain pants for a "fee" of $20.

McCord credits golf pro Brad Britton for teaching him the ins and outs of the golf swing and especially the mental game.

Broadcasting and writing career

At age 37 in 1986, McCord joined CBS Sports as a golf analyst, a capacity in which he still serves. He is noted for his outspokenness, a trait that has seen him barred from the CBS commentary team for The Masters.

During the network's Masters coverage 23 years ago in 1994, McCord remarked that the 17th green was so fast that it seemed to be "bikini-waxed", and that "body bags" were located behind that green for players who missed their approach shots. Several months later, Augusta National Golf Club used its influence with CBS to have him removed from the Masters commentary team. While McCord has continued to cover virtually all other golf events aired by CBS, he has yet to return to Augusta with the network. He was not the first CBS commentator to be banned: Jack Whitaker referred to the gallery at the end of the 18-hole playoff in 1966 as a "mob" rather than "patrons" and was banned for the next five Masters; he was allowed to return in 1972.

Aside from his CBS commentary duties, McCord also plays a limited schedule on the Champions Tour. After turning 50 in May 1998, he won his first title at the Toshiba Senior Classic in March 1999, and also won that year's Ingersoll-Rand Senior Tour Championship. Back in 1991, he won the Gateway Open on the Ben Hogan Tour, the second-tier tour in the U.S., now called the Web.com Tour.

McCord has also written two books, Just a Range Ball in a Box of Titleists and Golf for Dummies. In 1996, he appeared as himself in the Kevin Costner movie Tin Cup, a movie which he states is based on his life. He and fellow CBS commentator Peter Kostis are partners in the Kostis/McCord Learning Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. McCord formerly served as a co-announcer on the EA Sports' Tiger Woods PGA Tour series along with David Feherty.

Personal life

McCord lives with his wife, Diane, in Paradise Valley, Arizona and Edwards, Colorado.

Amateur wins

Nationwide Tour wins

Champions Tour wins

Champions Tour playoff record (1–2)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional