SAN DIEGO — It was tough way to make a network TV debut.
Johnson Wagner was hired by CBS away from Golf Channel before this season to do what he does best—try to re-create shots hit by the pros, usually with highly entertaining results. There have been a lot of memorable attempts, including Johnson trying Bryson DeChambeau’s 72nd-hole bunker shot in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Johnson tried it in the dark, bladed the shot, and did so with DeChambeau watching while holding the trophy.
On Saturday, CBS was in its first hour of coverage of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines when Johnson made his network bow. A few minutes earlier, Brooks Koepka had an adventurous time at the par-4 first hole on the South Course after the man returning from LIV Golf started his third round at the 10th.
Picked it clean 😮💨
No compromising on a good line for @BKoepka.
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/QWGY3ypgyD
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 31, 2026
It had been a wild round for Koepka, with a card that already featured three birdies, one double bogey and two bogeys. He hit his drive left on 1 and the ball settled on the cart path. Not wanting to drop into the rough, Koepka decided to play it off the concrete and hit a fantastic shot onto the green, 11 feet from the hole.
It would have been maybe the best birdie yet in Koepka’s comeback week, but … the five-time major champ ended up three-jacking by missing the first roll and then the three-foot comebacker for a bogey 5.
Cue Johnson, who went out to the hole, was handed his 7-iron and took a lash at the same shot—live, while the tournament was bring played. He offered a legitimate tip: “The key to hitting off the cart path is to not flinch at the bottom.”
Of course, like so many of Johnson’s re-takes, he couldn’t match Koepka, pulling the shot left into the deep rough. “Not very good,” he said.
But then, before the guys in the booth could needle him about it, Johnson came up with his own withering line for Koepka: “If I had hit it on the green, though, I wouldn’t have three-putted.”
Everybody laughed and Nantz gave Johnson a break, responding, “I got you up and down for par, by the way.”
It was fun stuff to watch, and the vote from here going forward: More Wagner shots and fewer walk-and-talks.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com