With TNT hosting all four days of the PGA Championship beginning Thursday morning from the Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey, Turner anchor and do-it-all star Ernie Johnson spoke to Awful Announcing about the tournament, Charles Barkley’s golf game, why Barkley won’t use Twitter, Kevin Durant, and Craig Sager’s emotional ESPYs speech.

Awful Announcing: We’re used to seeing you on Inside The NBA or the MLB on TBS. What makes golf unique or challenging for you individually and Turner collectively?

Ernie Johnson: Golf is a blast. I’ve been doing the PGA since 1995 and then did our British Open coverage for six or seven years. I always look forward to it because I love the sport. Wish I played it better. Having a part in one of the majors is always very cool. I was here in Baltusrol is ’05 and it’s always a kick. It’s always fun to do something different.

AA: Do you ever have discussions with multi-sport anchors like Jim Nantz, Joe Buck, or Mike Tirico about what it’s like calling golf and your other respective sports?

EJ: You know what? The best advice I ever got doing golf, I got the first year I ever did it, back in 1995. We’re at Riviera, and I sat down with Verne Lundquist in a golf cart for about 20 minutes and we just talked. And I said look, I haven’t done golf before, Verne. So what can you tell me?

He said, just remember you’re a caption writer. Don’t get involved in big, long stories because the producer and director are going to want to bounce around and show a lot of golf shots. So make your points and make them concisely and just write captions. That’s the best advice I ever got from him. And, of course, whenever you work around Jim Nantz for 20 years doing this, you’re gonna pick up a lot just from how he does that. He’s the best in the business.

AA: And do you prefer that style, or is it just a different challenge?

EJ: I think it’s what works. Doing baseball is different from doing golf, which is different from doing a studio show with Kenny, Charles, and Shaq. You’re bouncing around and showing so many shots from hole to hole that you can’t sit there and try to wax poetic about Baltusrol or the history of the PGA Championship. You have to work these in over the course of what you’re seeing. Because the shots come so rapid fire, you don’t get involved in long, drawn out stories. And that’s just a rhythm you get used to.

AA: What’s your week been like leading up to the event, and how have you been preparing for your broadcast?

EJ: I got here Sunday night, and I was out here at Baltusrol at 7:30 Monday morning and then I went through the golf course. I got in the cart, walked and basically you’re just driving hole to hole and then walking certain holes and talking to players. By noon, I had gone from one through 18 and Tuesday you kind of do the same thing.

Tuesday I went out and walked five holes with Phil and with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and you’re talking to them about the golf course, about their year, about how they like the place. You’re just trying to pick up nuggets from different spots. So these days leading up to it are just preparation and getting to know the thing and just talking to players.

AA: You’re starting to call baseball now leading up to the playoffs. Is it difficult for you to try to be immersed in basketball and baseball while prepping for this major tournament?

EJ: After this many years, you kind of get a rhythm into how you have to prepare. I’ve been at Turner since 1989, so we’re talking about 27 years there. And I think after a while, you realize your preparation for golf has to begin long before the PGA Championship hits. You’re working on all these sports all the time, and it’s not like you’re dropping everything and saying “hey, the PGA is in two weeks, let’s start preparing.” You’ve been preparing for the last few months.

Doing the event, that’s the easy thing. It’s all the preparation that goes into it. You have to have a handle on how you need to prepare. It’s not hard to shift from one [sport] to the other.

AA: Just a couple of mandatory Charles Barkley questions. It didn’t seem like he had such a good weekend on the golf course. Did you get on him for his golf game?

EJ: I guess you’re referencing Tahoe. This is one of those rare years where I didn’t watch it, but I saw a couple of clips online of Charles struggling again with his game. Here’s the remarkable thing: We had our wrap party for the NBA season in Oklahoma City at a Top Golf, and he was swinging the club nice. He really was.

But there’s something, and he’ll tell you, psychological that happens when he goes out and starts playing. And so I don’t know how he’s going to fix it. I know guys have tried to fix him before. I know Hank Haney’s tried to fix him, but I don’t know. A lesser man would’ve given up the game by now, but he enjoys playing so much that he’s still trying to work his way through it. I’ve got no answers on that.

AA: There was a recent article that claimed that Charles was offered $3 million to join Twitter. And if that’s true, why do you think he dislikes social media that much that he’d pass that up?

EJ: I would never try to speak for Charles or get inside his mind. I’ve said Charles, look: You’re an opinionated guy, you have charities out there, you have good ideas. The perfect way to share it would be to be on social media. And I thought I made some pretty compelling arguments for him.

A couple of years ago, I thought he was really going to consider it. He said, “you know, you’re right. If there’s a cause I feel good about or strongly about and I put something out there, I could have millions of people getting on board it.” and then he would say like, “I don’t wanna deal with a bunch of idiots on there.” And I guess that’s where he still stands. For some reason, he just won’t get on board, even though it would certainly have benefits for him.

It’s just the same way like he can’t understand people who play video games, and he can’t understand how people would want to talk about how they want a tuna melt for lunch, or anything else like that. He’s got his reasons, and apparently those aren’t three million good enough ones for him to join.

AA: What’s your opinion on Kevin Durant leaving to Golden State and all the superteam debates that have gone on since that signing?

EJ: Here’s the deal: He’s well within his rights to do whatever he wants to do. I think what you’re seeing more is players who have looked at it and said “in my day, Michael wouldn’t have left the Bulls to join the Pistons because he couldn’t beat Detroit.” They think when you’re that close, you’ve gotta say “let’s get there.”

But hey, that’s the way the league works and you have people talking about “hey, I have to get the ring.” Now you’re going to see people say now that Golden State is loaded, and they go from being from the darlings to the team where people will star rooting against you. It doesn’t always work out, but they’re going to be some team to watch.

You have to go up against that team and say let’s try to stop Curry and Klay and you could do that and Durant might go for 50 on you.

AA: We all saw Craig Sager get the award at the ESPYs. What was going through your mind as you were watching and witnessing that and that moment for Craig?

EJ: I thought it was the highlight of the night. I thought he hit it out of the park and I thought he just had the place in the palm of his hand. His speech was absolutely awesome, and he never ceases to just amaze me with his resolve and his strength over the last couple of years.

He’s gone through treatments that are just stunning to see the amount of chemotherapy, to see what he would do during the playoffs. I remember we were in Oakland after the first couple of games of the Western Conference Finals, and we took the red eye back to Atlanta. While I go home, he goes to the hospital for more treatment. His strength and his spirit, it has influenced and inspired millions out there. So it’s been amazing to watch.

About Shlomo Sprung

Shlomo Sprung is a writer and columnist for Awful Announcing. He's also a senior contributor at Forbes and writes at FanSided, SI Knicks, YES Network and other publications.. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, Business Insider, Sporting News and Major League Baseball. You should follow him on Twitter.

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