Johnson Wagner has provided a massive breath of fresh air on the Golf Channel, with his re-enactments, on-course interviews and more.
It's not something he sought out. Instead, broadcasting came to him.
Watch our interview with Johnson Wagner below
"It feel in my lap a little bit," Wagner told our Jeanna Trotman during the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where he's part of the coverage team this weekend.
Wagner told us a guy he played against in high school has been a researcher for Golf Channel for years, and he came to Wagner and asked if he was interested in a trial week.
"I was like, 'absolutely, I'd love to.' So it all kind of fell in my lap and I've loved every minute of it."
He was playing professionally on the PGA Tour when he was asked, and was even playing in the tournament the week before his trial week.
Last year, he said he got into six or seven events, but Golf Channel asked him to work those events.
Over the past few months, Wagner has been open on television about his "chipping yips," which have created viral clips on social media after many tournaments.
He went viral once again a couple of weeks ago when re-creating the bunker shot Bryson Dechambeau hit to win the U.S. Open.
"They just came in my ear and they said, 'hey, we've got five minutes left in the show, go hit the bunker shot' and I was standing there ready to rock in the dark. There was a Jumbotron illuminating the bunker," Wagner said.
The champion joined him in the bunker after Wagner skulled a shot over the green.
"He pulled up right after I skulled one over the green. Pulled up, got in the bunker told me to hit it heavy," he said.
Wagner put it closer than Dechambeau, then posed with the U.S. Open trophy in the bunker.
"My nerves were high, but at that point, the most nervous I think I've ever been was my first time in front of a camera doing the golf central studio show. It was as nervous as I ever was on the golf course and, it's gotten a little bit better," he said.
This week, Wagner has a new role by being a hole announcer, and he said he was pretty nervous on Thursday, but it's been great.
This isn't his first time in Detroit. He's played the Rocket Mortgage Classic twice and played in the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
