McGinley offered golden opportunity to audition for NBC lead analyst’s role this week

Paul McGinley has been offered a golden opportunity to land one of the biggest jobs in golf broadcasting.

The Dubliner, who turns 57 next month, will step in as lead analyst for NBC as Tiger Woods returns to action for the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

NBC Sports is looking for a replacement for Paul Azinger, whose five years with the network ended at the Ryder Cup in October.

Azinger was unaware the Ryder Cup would be his last event, and NBC is looking to trail several candidates between now and the start of next year before deciding on who will take over.

Azinger did not comment on why his contract wasn’t renewed but told AP last week that it was a mixture of disappointment and surprise.

“I was supposed to do the Bahamas,” he said, referring to the Hero World Challenge this week, where Woods will compete for the first time since April. 

McGinley will work alongside NBC host Dan Hicks and analyst Curt Byrum at Albany in a very different role to his current one with Sky and Golf Channel, with whom he is still contracted.

His “Live At” section alongside Rich Lerner and Brandel Chamblee has been a major success and while he’s understood to be very happy to continue in those roles under the Comcast umbrella, the lead analyst’s role would represent a significant step up for him in terms of exposure and scrutiny.

McGinley's future will likely depend on how he does in the Bahamas and future events over the next few months.

The role is a complicated one for former players, as evidenced by the controversy generated when Padraig Harrington worked for Sky Sports during the Masters in 2017 when he spoke honestly about his sometimes fraught relationship with the eventual winner, Sergio Garcia.

It’s been an era of change at NBC, which has recently parted company with Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch.

NBC hired Azinger as a replacement for Johnny Miller in 2018.

It also uses the likes of Byrum, Brad Faxon, Frank Nobilo, John Cook, Johnson Wagner, Jim Gallagher, George Savaricas and Nick Dougherty for analysis and Notah Begay, John Wood and Smylie Kaufman, among others, for on-course commentary.