Kevin Kisner’s season debut as NBC analyst under threat from his match form

Kevin Kisner’s season debut as an NBC analyst is in a bit of trouble right now. According to a recent post by Sports Business Journal on X, Kisner’s spot could be taken by three other analysts at the Mexico Open, starting today, February 20.

In his post, Josh Carpenter wrote:

“No Kevin Kisner for NBC this week in Mexico. It’ll be Notah/Faxon/Byrum.

Kisner will make his season debut as their lead analyst next week at the Cognizant… unless he makes the cut, at which point he would start at API.”

According to Carpenter’s post, Kisner will debut as a lead NBC analyst next week at the Cognizant Classic. But there is a catch—if he qualifies for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he will play the tournament instead of analyzing the Cognizant Classic.

The Cognizant Classic will start on February 27 and end on March 2. Meanwhile, the Arnold Palmer Invitational will start on March 3 and end on March 9. Hence, it will be challenging for Kevin Kisner to be in both events.

In December, last year, Kisner was selected as NBC’s lead golf analyst for 2025. At that time, NBC announced that he would join Dan Hicks inside the booth full-time. The 41-year-old was part of NBC’s rotating booth in 2024, along with Luke Donald, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay, and Brandel Chamblee.

Kevin Kisner has been an NBC Analyst in the past as well

This is Kevin Kisner’s 19th year as a PGA Tour pro, and he has limited PGA Tour playing privileges under his agreement. So, he can choose what to do for the remainder of his Tour eligibility, and being an NBC analyst can be one of those choices.

Last year, when NBC announced its agreement with Kisner in a press release, it was mentioned that he would be part of NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Open, Open Championship, and Ryder Cup this year. However, this is not Kisner’s first stint as an NBC analyst. He made a handful of appearances as an NBC analyst in February last year, including at the Sentry, WM Phoenix Open, and Players Championship.

In January, last year, while talking to James Colgan of Hot Mic, Golf.com’s media vertical, Kisner addressed rumors about retiring to take up an NBC analyst job full-time.

At that time, he said:

“The first question I get from everyone is, ‘Are you retiring?’ Then, once they find out what I’m doing, the second question I get is, ‘How long is the delay?’”

Kevin Kisner has four career wins on the PGA Tour since turning pro in 2006. He is ranked 863rd in the OWGR rankings. He has 10 runner-ups and 46 Top 10 finishes during his career. His four PGA Tour wins are the 2021 Wyndham Championship, 2019 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, 2017 Dean & Deluca Invitational and 2015 The RSM Classic.