The 2025 Wyndham Championship wasn’t just the final regular season event of the PGA Tour season, but it marked the end of one of the game’s beloved broadcasters.
Ian Baker-Finch announced earlier this year that he would retire at the end of the season, marking the final round on Sunday at the Sedgefield Country Club for the final airing on CBS. After retiring from star play, Baker Finch spent 11 years as a broadcaster on Australian television, working with ESPN and ABC from 1998 to 2006 before joining CBS in 2007.
For his final broadcast, some of the game’s celebrities and top Australian players issued heartfelt congratulations to Baker Finch about his extraordinary after-playing career on his way to retirement. Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Jason Day and Adam Scott were among them to offer their thanks to Baker Finch for giving to the game in his time as a broadcaster.
“Congratulations to Finch for the 30 years behind the microphone,” Woods wrote. “You have brought insight into what viewers can understand and relate to. From all of us – thank you for the memories.”
“Ian was perfect for a golf game,” Nicklaus said. “He’s a good player with a great personality and he’s made a big addition to the CBS Golf broadcasts. We congratulate him very much.”
“You’ve always been a bright spot in our game,” Day said. “Champion on and off the golf course. I always respected you and knew you were standing – excellence and more important decency. I have always considered you a friend and just a great person. Congratulations on your amazing career.
“Congratulations to IBF for an incredible broadcasting career,” Scott wrote. “Your love for this game was clearly expressed every weekend in Terry. Calling for my victory on Augusta’s 10th green is a great memory for me.
Baker-Finch won the PGA Tour twice, including the 1991 Open Championship, but golf fans today know him from his work on television. He has long been a beloved voice in golf due to the energy he brought to the broadcast and the passion for the game.
