Did Legendary Golfer Ian Baker-Finch Announce His Retirement? Inside the Details

For many athletes, once their sports career ends, they enjoy the rest of their lives reaping the benefits of their hard-earned success. However, there are those who go on to enjoy very successful and long-lasting broadcasting and commentating careers, such as former professional golfer Ian Baker-Finch. So, did he officially retire from broadcasting? Let’s find out the details.

Ian Baker-Finch made his professional golf debut in 1983, winning the New Zealand Open. Two years later, in 1985, he played in his very first PGA Tour — leading to several years of success in the sport.

On Sunday, Aug. 3, Ian formally announced his decision to retire from his 30-year broadcasting career at CBS Sports with his final time covering the Wyndham Championship, according to Golf Week. “Since I made the decision, it’s the best I’ve felt in a long time,” he said following the announcement.

Ian shared that he began toying with the idea of retirement last year while broadcasting the Masters and RBC Heritage tournaments, noting that he realized that it marked 40 years of him either playing or announcing at those events. “That’s what sort of got me thinking, what’s next?” he shared, per the outlet.

Ian, whose contract was set to expire in October, felt that after a successful pro golf career in the early part of his life and an equally successful broadcasting career in the latter half that now was the time to step away.

Discussing the intense commitment required to broadcast for the network at the highest level, Ian noted that his determination has lessened. “I don’t ever want to get to the point where the producer and the team have to sort of legacy protect, if you will,” he said, per Golf Week. “I’m not there yet, but at nearly 65 you start feeling that way.”

“I hope people saw me as someone who loved the game and respected the players and brought a calm and honest perspective to the coverage,” Ian said of how he hopes to be remembered. “It’s never been about me. I’m sort of uncomfortable when something’s about me.”

“The love and support I’ve received since I went public with my retirement has been overwhelming,” he continued. “I do think there may be some on social media that’ll say good riddance, we didn’t like the accent, or we didn’t like him or he was never tough enough on the players but that doesn’t worry me. I think the majority will say, ‘Hey, he did a good job. He loved the game. We’ll miss him.'"

A host of big names in the golf world reacted to Ian’s retirement news and sent him well-wishes, including Tiger Woods. "Congrats Finchy for 30 incredible years behind the microphone," Woods wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "You brought insight into things that the viewing audience could understand and relate to. From all of us — thanks for the memories."