PGA Tour to return with Nantz solo broadcast, mic'd up players

June 9 (UPI) -- The PGA Tour will make its return Thursday, although with a few new changes during the broadcast.

Announcer Jim Nantz will be by himself for the call on the 18th hole and some players will wear microphones for increased insight for viewers.

CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus announced the new features for the broadcast during a conference call Monday.

"It's a complicated production,'' McManus said. "And far different than anything we've ever done.''

The Charles Schwab Challenge will be held from Thursday through Sunday at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be the first PGA Tour tournament since the season was suspended in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

No fans will be allowed at the first five tournaments when the season resumes. The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, on July 16 is scheduled to be the first to allow fans to attend.

The Charles Schwab Challenge will be broadcast on CBS, Golf Channel and PGA Tour Live. Analysts Nick Faldo, Frank Nobilo and Ian Baker-Finch will work from a studio in Orlando, Fla., and Dottie Pepper and Mark Immelman will also be on-site broadcasters.

The event will have a limited production crew, about half its usual on-site staff. Other crews will be based out of New York, Los Angeles, Stamford, Conn., and New Zealand.

Several players will wear microphones and golfers in the featured groups will answer questions during their round as part of the Inside the Ropes feature.

"I think there's probably a greater appreciation for wanting to contemporize golf coverage a little bit," McManus added. "Players are beginning to realize they can play a real role to make it more interesting."

The PGA Tour's resumed 2019-20 season is scheduled to run through the Tour Championship in Atlanta from Sept. 4-7, but three of golf's four major championships are still scheduled to be held in 2020.

The PGA Championship will be held Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y., will be held Sept. 17-20 and the Masters in Augusta, Ga., is scheduled from Nov. 12-15. The British Open was this season's only major tournament that was canceled outright due to the pandemic.