After having been on the Golf Channel staff since 1994, Scott Van Pelt made the move to ESPN in 2001. His first major-championship assignment was the Masters. His second was the U.S. Open at Southern Hills.
Several reporters wore shorts and polos as we boarded a shuttle that would take us into the Southern Hills property. As the mid-June Tulsa heat was at an above-average level, Van Pelt dutifully wore his company-policy uniform: a dress shirt and tie, a blazer and slacks. Until we did this phone Q&A a few days ago, that was the only time I’d ever talked with Van Pelt.
In 2015, he became ESPN’s No. 1 nighttime figure as a SportsCenter anchor who now is on the same fame line as legendary anchors Chris Berman, Bob Ley, Robin Roberts, Dan Patrick, Keith Olbermann and Stuart Scott. I’ve been a loyal viewer of Van Pelt’s SportsCenter presentations and a huge fan of the hilarious “Bad Beats” segment, when he and studio partner “Stanford Steve” Coughlin narrate highlights of a game during which remarkable circumstances result in one team miraculously covering or failing to cover a point spread.
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A 6-foot-6, 55-year-old native of Brookeville, Maryland, and a graduate of the University of Maryland’s journalism school, Van Pelt returns to Tulsa to anchor ESPN’s coverage of Tulsa's eighth major — the 104th PGA Championship.
Tulsa World: For coverage of the Masters and PGA Championship, do you get out of your Washington, D.C., studio because it’s good for you or because it’s good for ESPN? You probably still have a million relationships in golf.
Van Pelt: "If you’re going to host it, you need to be out there. It’s certainly beneficial to be back out there and reacquaint yourself. The sport is different than the others. I’ve known people for the entirety of my career, and they’re still playing. But there are so many of these young guys — when I’m not out there week to week, it’s definitely great to get out and see them. Like Collin Morikawa. He’s a huge sports fan, so he’s been watching ESPN for a lot of years. You have a little bit of a built-in advantage (because the players know Van Pelt as the SportsCenter anchor). Maybe that have some familiarity with us before we get to know them.
"I love the way I do (golf) now. Between Augusta and the PGA, you get a chance to go in back-to-back months, spend a week on the ground, roll up your sleeves and do golf. We really have a great crew. We enjoy each other’s company and covering big events."
Tulsa World: Tiger Woods was here on April 28. He walked an entire practice round. Considering the nature of the right-leg injury he sustained only 16 months ago, what would you have said if I’d told you he would be in the field for the first two majors of 2022?
Van Pelt: "I would have asked if you were well or what sort of alternate reality you were occupying. At some point, having known the man for as long as I have, and seeing what he fought through and come back from — he won the Masters with a fused back. That to me said, 'You can’t doubt the man.' But also, with this (2021) injury and accident, I think Rory (McIlroy) said it well: 'The man is a human being. Flesh and blood and bone, like the rest of us. You don’t just keep coming back from stuff like this.'
"Again, having known (Woods) as a dad, and knowing his children Sam and Charlie, I just want this guy to be ambulatory and enjoy his life. Not for the sake of entertaining us and getting into the arena. None of this seemed possible. Two weeks out from Augusta, I didn’t think he’d play there. All of a sudden, the chatter started building and you’re like, 'Wait a minute. This crazy son of a gun is going to play, isn’t he?' Seeing the toll four days in, and him going 78-78 for the weekend, you (remembered) that St. Andrews is his favorite course in the world, and maybe he’ll just hang out and get better until (the British Open). No, that’s not how he’s wired. I’m just thinking out loud here. The short answer is no, I never dreamt that this would happen. If he can do it, he’s going to try. That’s what we all appreciate about the greatest athletes we’ve seen through the years. What are they willing to endure?"
Tulsa World: Maybe Tiger’s situation will result in a heightened appreciation for Ben Hogan winning six majors after his gruesome car crash in 1949.
Van Pelt: "That’s an era I don’t know. Hogan to me is like a fish story that is real. Come on. How could he have done it? But we know he did it because we know history."
Tulsa World: Can you hear this thunderstorm in the background? Wow. It’s not tornadic, but it’s violent. Lots of lightning.
Van Pelt: "I’m familiar with that part of the world. My grandma grew up in a little town called Miami, Oklahoma. My mom’s mom."
Tulsa World: You pronounced it correctly – My-am-uh, instead of My-am-mee, like Miami, Florida.
Van Pelt: “That’s what Bob Stoops told me, the first time we talked. I said, 'Yeah, my grandma was a big Sooners fan. She grew up in Miami.' He said, 'I know you’re telling the truth because you said it right.'”
Tulsa World: Miami High School teams have a great nickname — the Wardogs.
Van Pelt: "Yep. I’m familiar with that name."
Tulsa World: On the subject of Phil Mickelson, I sort of feel about him the way I do about actor Will Smith — that Mickelson’s career might never be the same after this ongoing controversy. With regard to image and the same level of popularity, I don’t know if Mickelson can recapture all of that.
Van Pelt: "Given the (Alan Shipnuck) book that is about to come out (on Tuesday), and not knowing what’s in it, and having the situation with the Saudi league — at some point, I think (Mickelson) will resurface and when he does, he’ll need to be more direct. When he put his statement out, it didn’t land very well. He seemed to apologize to everybody except the people who needed to hear an apology.
"It’s astounding, after having been at the (2021 PGA Championship) and seeing the way that (Mickelson’s) triumph was received — the fact that Tiger would be playing (2022) majors and Phil wouldn’t doesn’t make any sense at all. How could that be? Somebody is going to play in these (Saudi) events. A bunch of guys are going to play, but Phil has become the face of it. Your Will Smith comment is interesting: Is an immensely popular guy seen the same after an incident? I don’t think Phil will be seen the same. In both instances, this did not happen to them. (Mickelson and Smith) did it."
Tulsa World: You’re a thousand percent correct. Both situations were self-inflicted.
Van Pelt: "These guys had their hands on the wheel. Before the Masters, I was asked on (ESPN’s "Pardon the Interruption") about Phil. No one was talking about Phil’s absence because everyone was talking about Tiger’s presence. (The PGA Championship) is different because Phil is the defending champion. This Saudi tour thing is getting ready to happen, so I think there’s a confluence of the Mickelson storyline becoming a bigger piece of the conversation in Tulsa than it was in Augusta."
Tulsa World: If you were to bet a dollar on a Tulsa winner, do you look at Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm before considering any of about 20 other players who might contend?
Van Pelt: "It’s hard to not accept Scheffler for what he is — a guy who wins golf tournaments (and) plays well almost exclusively. And didn’t he say in (an interview) that his favorite course is Southern Hills?"
Tulsa World: He did, yes.
Van Pelt: "Right. So we’ve got a cat who won four out of six tournaments, including the Masters, and he plays great in the majors, and (Southern Hills) is his favorite course. Sometimes, you don’t have to work hard to be clever."
(Van Pelt elaborates on Jon Rahm): “Rahm winning as the favorite (at the Mexico Open) — winning is winning. It’s always important. I like how he’s wired. People say, ‘He runs too hot.’ That’s garbage, man. Curtis Strange (was as hot-headed) as anyone out there. Andy North, one of my partners (on ESPN golf coverage) — he would run hot.
“I never get that being a fiery competitor is bad. Rahm last year at the U.S. Open — on the 71st and 72nd holes, when it was time to deliver, what did he do? He poured in a couple of monster putts to win. I think he’ll be a multiple-time major champion, and more than just two or three. He’ll be the guy over the next 15 years who wins the most majors. I really believe that.”
Tulsa World: Your “Bad Beats” segment on SportsCenter has changed the way I watch the final few minutes of football and basketball. I don’t gamble or typically care about a point spread unless I’m covering the game, and yet now, if a late-game situation gets interesting on the scoreboard, I’ll look up the line and the total to see whether a Van Pelt “Bad Beat” is about to occur.
Van Pelt: "Impossible things happen. You don’t have to have the (losing) side for it to be compelling. I think it’s actually better theater if you didn’t because then you can just laugh at the poor (person) that had the wrong side. I told (ESPN management figures), 'Look, I’m going to do this little gambling bit here,' and at the time, (sports gambling) wasn’t legal the way it is now. I said, 'You’ll have to trust me. It’ll be compelling content.' They didn’t flinch. The thing I’m asked about most is 'Bad Beats'. I’m asked about it all time.
"I’m not unfamiliar with the gambling space. That’s the best way I can put it. When I’m screaming, 'Heavens to Betsy!', it’s because whether I had this game or not, I’ve been through it and so has Steve. You couldn’t fake our passion and level of concern for it. It’s not performance art."