Texas Voices and a Major First
Texas broadcasters Grant Boone and Judy Rankin lead first "Featured Groups" coverage at KPMG Women's PGA Championship in Frisco
As the state of Texas hosted the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for the first time at the PGA of America's Frisco headquarters this past weekend, two broadcasting legends had the unique opportunity to call the tournament in their adopted home state.
Grant Boone, a veteran broadcaster known as "The Voice of the Wildcats" at Abilene Christian University, and Texas Golf Hall of Famer Judy Rankin had the honor of leading the "Featured Groups" broadcast on Peacock throughout the weekend, following particular groups of golfers on every shot throughout 18 holes each day.
"As someone who is an adopted Texan, I love seeing a women's major championship come here," Boone said. "It's just the second time that Dallas-Fort Worth has hosted a women's major. I want women's golf to grow, and Texas is too good a market not to take advantage of. You've got the first major every year played in the Houston area in The Woodlands, but to have one here this year -- and we know one's coming back in 2031 -- that delights me as a Texan."
Calling the tournament from the PGA headquarters has its perks. Instead of using a trailer and a makeshift, portable studio, the broadcasters get the luxury of a full in-house broadcasting studio, which the Dallas Stars also use for their pregame, postgame, and intermission shows during road games.
This was the first time the KPMG Women's PGA Championship has included a "Featured Groups" broadcast, but it can be an important tool to give fans better access to the players and the game going forward.
"Featured groups is such a different perspective because you get to watch players hit every single shot, and you can't really appreciate a player's round if you're just seeing their scores," Boone said. "You don't see how they do it. You can look online and see they hit the fairway or the green, but we get to watch how difficult the shot is or how easy it is or how well they execute it."
Boone specifically mentioned Yuka Saso's Friday round as one that could deceive fans who just look at the score.
"A fan who just sees the scores might say, 'Oh, well she didn't play very well,'" Boone added. "We get to see all the emotion that she pours into every single shot. I think featured groups is a really great way to experience a tournament. This is the first time the KPMG has done it and hopefully not the last."
Boone, originally from the Nashville, Tenn. area, has been all over the map throughout his broadcasting career. He has called Abilene Christian sports in some capacity since 1990 and even had the privilege of calling games in all four major sports for major networks like ESPN, Fox Sports, and CBS. His work includes broadcasts of the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, and several major golf and tennis tournaments.
"I have to split my football season coverage with ACU with the LPGA, and I'm grateful that I get to do both,” he said. “One's kind of a labor of love. It's my alma mater. I love representing the purple and white of ACU. Every week, I try to wear a little purple. I own a lot of purple. Every week, I wear some kind of purple as just a thank you to ACU for what it's done for me."
The "Voice of the Wildcats" even got to call an NCAA Tournament game for his alma mater when it knocked off the Texas Longhorns in the first round in 2021.
"That was one of my favorite calls," he said. "Whether it's that or calling the Masters for CBS or working with Judy, it's the only thing I've really wanted to do, and I've been thankful to do it."
Boone has been involved in the LPGA since he was hired by the Golf Channel in 2000. The first event he called for the Golf Channel on the women's tour was the Takefuji Classic in Hawaii. That year, the Tour's top two golfers, Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam, went to a playoff to decide the winner. The epic storylines, the drama, and the talent of the players were enough to hook Boone right then and there.
"I think I love the fact that it's a little bit like the little engine that could," he explained. "'I think I can. I think I can,' against all odds. And there were a lot bigger odds when Judy was in her heyday as not just the Player of the Year, but also as the President of the LPGA. ... Now, we're in a place where we're playing a $12 million major. I love a good underdog, and the LPGA, to me, just keeps scratching and clawing and fighting for their rightful place. Little by little, I think they're getting there. It's sometimes a step forward and two back, but they just keep going."
Rankin has been as involved as anyone in golf, the LPGA, and the LPGA Tour going back to her days as one of its premier participants and continuing in her post-playing career as a broadcaster for both the men's game and the women's game.
The former LPGA star was one of the game's early faces, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1961, right before she turned pro. Her playing career spanned two decades. While she never won a major, she had 28 career LPGA Tour victories, won numerous Player of the Year awards, and was the captain of two Solheim Cup-winning teams. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000 and was the very first member of the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame.
"I realize that it's been a really long time that I've been in the world of golf," she said. "It's almost kind of surprising to me. We laugh once in a while just talking, and I've said, 'That was another lifetime.' Because it does feel like, in golf, I've had a lot of lifetimes. Mostly, I'm just grateful that it's still going on. Clearly, I've had my days in the sun."
Although she is originally from St. Louis, Judy Rankin now calls Texas home and is a member of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. She has been in broadcasting since the early 1980s, covering both men's and women's golf for ABC, ESPN, and the Golf Channel from on the course and in the tower near the 18th green.
Rankin's efforts in her broadcasting career were recognized by the golf world last year, as she received the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.
"That blew me away," she said. "I certainly did not expect it, and the fact that it was for journalism was really gratifying."
Rankin credits her colleagues for helping her become a great journalist and says that developing the ability to help tell other people's stories has helped to propel her influential and award-winning broadcasting and journalism career.
"That's what I think people enjoy, watching this sport, because this sport's a little slower," Rankin explained. "This sport has some quiet time. You get the chance to tell someone's story. It was particularly gratifying because it wasn't just for golf. It seemed better than that, and I appreciate that a lot."
Now, the two Texas broadcasters get to help pioneer a new format for Peacock, NBC Sports, and the Golf Channel. It’s been used for select men’s tournaments, but there was no more fitting place for its KPMG Women’s PGA Championship debut than a tournament at the PGA of America's home base in the DFW area, which Irving resident Minjee Lee won.