McCord won’t trade
in his mic for clubs

Gary McCord will never climb down from the TV tower and take his shot on the Champions Tour.

Not that the full-time golf analyst for CBS Sports has a part-time game. McCord demonstrated that with a 4-under 68 at yesterday's opening round of the Turtle Bay Championship.

It's just not quite good enough week in and week out to give up his day job.

"No. Never. Ever," McCord said with a measured cadence when asked if the will to play would exceed the will to talk. "First of all, I'm too old. It might have when I was 50, 51, you know. Everything I do is based off television. The outings, all that stuff. It's a very nice way to make a living.

"You don't do anything. You talk about the easiest job -- in the world -- it's being a golf announcer. First of all, you never say anything and if you do, it's in very hushed tones. And they pay me a lot of money, and then a lot of people say, 'Yeah, come on, I've seen you on TV before.' I speak and they give me some more money.

"That's just stupid. I'm not going to quit that."

McCord returns to the PGA Tour next week at the Phoenix Open in CBS's opening broadcast of 2005. But before he goes, the 56-year-old celebrity would like nothing better than to get a win and be exempt for the senior circuit. As of now, McCord has 20 television gigs with CBS. That leaves him about a dozen chances to play the Champions Tour and earn enough money to gain exempt status.

"I will try to play when I can, play off the money list," McCord said. "But I've got to win. That's what I'm out here to do and help me play in the 10 or 11 events I can maybe play in. I'm not high enough on any money lists just to walk in and play."

McCord has played well here before. In 2002, he took current four-time defending champion Hale Irwin to sudden death before losing on the first playoff hole. He parred it, but Irwin got a birdie to keep his winning streak here alive.

"This is a very good golf course," McCord said. "I keep asking these guys if they have seen a better (Arnold) Palmer golf course. No one has. It's really good. I mean really good. The back nine is as good as you can get. Fun to play if you're playing well.

"I've been here a while, so I've seen the wind blow from every direction. It really didn't do anything today. It was a little Kona today, so it's nice to get used to it. It's nice to not go out and play a practice round and you're playing with the tradewind and all of a sudden you step on the first tee and it's a Kona wind. Wait a minute, where do I hit it now? So we've pretty much got it figured out for this week."

McCord came into this week's 54-hole tournament in good golf shape. He's part of a club at Whisper Rock in Scottsdale, Ariz., that has 15 PGA Tour players as members, including Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Casey, Aaron Baddeley and Billy Mayfair.

"I played a bunch coming in here," McCord said. "We've got a new club where all the boys gather this time of year. There's a bunch of very, very good players. Bunch of tour players who are all members, so we get after it pretty good in December.

"They keep hitting it 100 yards past me and get up in my face with the best of them. We go at it. If I can play with those guys, it helps me when I get back out here. It's the best playing membership in the country by far."

McCord had a pretty interesting round himself. He birdied the second and third holes, and then managed an eagle at the par-5 ninth by chipping in from 78 yards.

"But I gave a couple of them back," McCord said. "I had one putt (less than 2 feet) and somehow missed the hole. But hey, it's the first week of the season. You get some, you give some back."