At the 2026 WM Phoenix Open, CBS Sports has positioned Johnson Wagner and Colt Knost as on-course analysts, working alongside Amanda Balionis during the final-round broadcast.

However, Balionis found an incredible off-script moment when her colleagues, Wagner and Knost, didn't turn up on time!

"Now this is where I’m [Amanda] getting concerned. They said, ‘Amanda, right when we’re done with this, we’re gonna come back, we’re gonna talk about the green speeds, how this hole’s gonna play, we’re gonna do some prep... That is not the evidence that I have been given. Look at this, they are getting amongst it, they’re hanging with the chickens, they’re hanging in the GA section... "

For both analysts, the jump from being PGA pros looks like it's taking some time. While Wagner made the jump to television years ago, Knost only switched into a bigger commitment two months ago. And now, they're using it to not just talk about golf, but participate in a way they couldn't as pros.

"I fear that Johnson might not be the stabilizer we thought he was going to be, and he might just be the wingman that Colt knows he’s been looking for."

However, there might be another reason why Knost took time with fans. As a long-term resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, this is home turf for the analyst. 

The two eventually returned, having fully experienced the fan atmosphere.

Amanda Balionis Welcomes Johnson Wagner and Colt Knost 

She acknowledged Knost’s “Welcome to the team, Colt. This is really, this is your home game.”

During the broadcast, Amanda Balionis later asked Johnson Wagner what he was looking forward to during the round and whether a similar moment could happen again, referencing the ace she had witnessed alongside Colt Knost.

In 2022, Sam Ryder recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole during the third round, marking the first ace on the stadium-style hole since 2015.

Wagner responded by referencing last year’s hole-in-one and the atmosphere on the hole, saying:

“I mean, we had an ace last year with Emiliano Grillo, but we’ll see. One hundred twenty-eight yards, it is electric out here. Yeah, I’d like to see one. We would love to see one.”

You can read more at Club Golf!

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar