For those old enough to remember, it always seemed as though the BBC was the place to head to in order to get your golfing fix. Nowadays, however, there is no sport that Sky haven’t taken at least a big chunk of the coverage of, with golf being no exception. As a result, whether you’re wanting to watch the biggest tournaments or just see some golf from around the world at a moment’s notice, Sky Sports Golf is the channel that you’ll want to turn to. From the Open Championship to the Masters via all of the numerous different competitions that are the remit of the PGA, Sky Sports Golf will have you covered.
Sarah Stirk
It is fair to say that someone whose break into the world of the media was on MUTV, the in-house broadcast channel of Manchester United, isn’t exactly nailed on to be one of the main presenters of golf coverage. Regardless, that is exactly the position that Sarah Stirk finds herself in, having also presented East Midlands Today for a time. When Setanta Golf was launched as a new channel covering the sport, Stirk was brought in as a presenter of the PGA Tour events, doing so for two years before the channel stopped broadcasting. At that point, Stirk started presenting sports for the BBC News Channel.
Congrats Scottie! Always a treat to interview the Champion Golfer of the Year on 18 green ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/7JiwSqBbb1
— Sarah Stirk 💙 (@SarahSkySports) July 21, 2025
That included both the news from the United Kingdom and BBC World News, which put her in good stead for her work with Sky Golf. Although the MUTV work obviously suited Stirk, it is golf that has stolen her heart and in the past she has reported on the Open Championship for TalkSport, as well as being part of Radio 5 Live’s team covering the PGA Championship and the Scottish Open, amongst other tournaments. Nowadays, though, Stirk is the main host for Sky Golf’s coverage of the PGA Tour and European Tour events that are broadcast on the channel, so it is her voice that you will hear when you tune in.
Nick Dougherty
Nicholas James Dougherty was born in Bootle, near Liverpool, on the 24th of May 1982. Having attended Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Blackburn, he went on to play golf professionally, winning the Faldo Junior Series in 1997 and then turning pro four years later. He became something of a protégé to Sir Nick Faldo, gaining membership to the European Tour in 2002 and coming 36th in the Order of Merit at the first time of asking. Named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, he struggled in the season after because of glandular fever, but bounced back to win the Caltex Masters in Singapore in 2005.
Dougherty went on to have a decent, if not exceptional, golfing career, making the decision to step away from the sport after failing to play a European Tour-sanctioned event since 2016. Instead, he turned his skills and experience towards working in the media, becoming a presenter for Sky Sports Golf. Such was his likability in front of the camera that in 2019 he was made Sky Sports’ lead presenter for the company’s coverage of all of the men’s Majors. He is also the person to whom Sky Sports Golf turns every few years when the Ryder Cup comes about, leading the coverage of that most exciting of competitions.
Tim Barter
A mainstay of Sky Sports’ golf coverage for more than three decades, Tim Barter’s career began at the age of 16 when he was an assistant professional at Berkshire’s Downshire Golf Club. Having earned his European Tour card, Barter instead decided that his time would be better spent becoming a club pro, working with the likes of David Leadbetter and Hank Haney to perfect his craft. He would go on to coach some of the biggest names in the sport, including Seve Ballesteros and his Sky Sports Golf colleague Andrew Coltart. He first joined the channel in 1993, going on to become one of the broadcaster’s most loyal of servants.
The @SkySportsGolf Podcast is now out. I’m joined by @NickDougherty5 & @timbartergolf for the 2021 Awards. Shot of the Year & Moment of the Year are decided, plus much more. What’s even better is that you can watch the Vodcast version tonight at 9pm on Sky Sports Golf! 🎄 ⛳ pic.twitter.com/J798R9Qf7D
— Josh Antmann (@JoshAntmann) December 15, 2021
Part of the organisation’s first-ever European Tour broadcast, he initially worked as a club pro alongside his broadcasting responsibilities before going full-time with the broadcaster and continuing to educate viewers from that moment on. Often seen interviewing players during or after their rounds, Barter’s ability to communicate is what has set him apart both as a coach and as a TV personality. Someone who knows their craft inside out and is well-loved by the Tour professionals, Barter is able to get complicated information across in a simple manner, which is why so many viewers appreciate his work for Sky Sports Golf.
Ewen Murray
Born in Edinburgh on the seventh of October 1954, James Ewen Murray won the World Junior Championship, the Scottish Boys’ Championship and the Scottish Boys’ Stroke Play Championship in 1971, which was also the year that he turned professional. Six years later, Murray won the Northern Open at Royal Dornoch, finishing five shots ahead of the field. He spent many years on the European Tour, with his best performances coming at the SOS Talisman TPC in 1979 and the Bob Hope British Classic in 1981, coming third in both. He also played regularly on the Safari Circuit in Africa, winning the 1980 Zambia Open.
We look forward to your company over the next 4 days.!!😂 Enjoy the Open from Royal St. George’s on Sky Sports. pic.twitter.com/GnDDjdwOb0
— Ewen Murray (@ewenmurray77) July 14, 2021
With that sort of experience under his belt, it is perhaps no wonder that Murray was snapped up by Sky Sports as soon as he showed any inclination to work in golf coverage. He would go on to become the voice of golf for more than three and a half decades, on account of the fact that he was one of the channel’s main commentators. Quite how long he’s got left in him, having turned 71, is something that only Murray will know, but the Scot did hint at the idea of walking away from the sport in the wake of the disgusting behaviour of many USA fans during the 2025 Ryder Cup, who targeted Rory McIlroy’s family with abuse.
Paul McGinley
Paul Noel McGinley was born in Dublin on the 16th of December 1966, going on to be educated at St Mary’s BNS and Coláiste Éanna. He studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology, but when he suffered a knee injury he decided to turn his focus to golf. He was able to secure a golf scholarship in order to attend the United States International University in San Diego, getting a Master’s degree in Marketing. In 1989, he won the Irish Amateur Close Championship and two years later was part of the Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team, which lost 14-10 to a strong US team that included the likes of Phil Mickelson in its lineup.
Although he never won any of the Majors, McGinley did win four events on the European Tour and was not only part of the Ryder Cup team in 2002, he also holed a ten-foot putt that saw him defeat Jim Furyk in their match, which was the point that won it for Europe. He then became the first Irish captain of the European Ryder Cup team 12 years later, seeing his team win 16.5 to 11.5, adding to his three victories as a player. He eventually turned his hand to broadcasting, joining the Sky Sports Golf team and offering his thoughts and insights whenever any of the Majors come around, as well as during the Ryder Cup itself.
Dame Laura Davies
Born in Coventry on the fifth of October 1963, Laura Jane Davies became just the second non-American player to top the LPGA Money List, which made her the United Kingdom’s most successful female golfer in modern times. Her career began as an amateur, winning the likes of the English Intermediate and the Welsh Ladies Open Stroke Play tournaments, turning professional in 1985. She won four of the LPGA’s Majors, picking up the Women’s PGA Championship in 1994 and 1996, with the latter year being when she also won the du Maurier Classic nine years after having won the US Women’s Open.
Davies was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015, which was a year after she had been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to women’s golf. With that in mind, it was pretty clear that Sky Sports Golf would turn to her for her insights and opinions any time she wasn’t playing herself and was therefore happy to join the coverage team. She first enjoyed working with a big-name broadcaster when she was part of BBC Sport’s coverage of the 2001 Open Championship, but it was more than a decade later that she made the transition from player to working with Sky Sports as a pundit.
Iona Stephen
When Iona Stephen was a student at St George’s, Edinburgh, she was a multi-talented athlete, playing the likes of hockey, squash, lacrosse and athletics. It was whilst studying History of Art at St Andrews that she discovered her passion for golf, turning pro after having obtained qualifications in Sports Nutrition and Personal Training. Her career was cut short when she injured her wrist, but her charisma as well as her knowledge of the sport and ability to get complicated ideas across to an audience meant that she was all but destined to become a broadcaster. It wasn’t long before the likes of GolfTV and the BBC came calling.
It was at Sky Sports where Stephen really began to hit her stride. In the years since she arrived at the broadcaster, Stephen has interviewed players before, during and after their rounds in competitions such as the Ryder Cup, the Masters, the Solheim Cup and the Open Championship. If there is something that the commentary team needs to know about something like the lie that a player’s ball has landed in, there is a good chance that Stephen will be the voice that they, and we, hear from explaining what we need to know.
Sir Nick Faldo
Nicholas Alexander Faldo was born in Welwyn Garden City on the 18th of July 1957. He had never even so much as picked up a golf club when, at the age of 14, he saw Jack Nicklaus playing in the 1971 Masters and became hooked on the sport. In 1974, he qualified to play in the English Amateur, then a year later he won both that tournament and the British Youths Open Amateur Championship, eventually earning a golf scholarship to study at the University of Houston. He left there after just ten weeks, feeling that it was a distraction to his game. Given the fact that he is considered to be one of the best players ever, he made the right decision.
His career saw him win countless Tour competitions, but it is the fact that he won the Masters three times and the same number of Open Championships for which he is best remembered. In 1988 he finished second in the US Open, ending up tied-second in the PGA Championship four years later, which were his best finishes in the two competitions. Knighted in 2009, he first gained experience as a broadcaster with ABC Sports between 2004 and 2006, at which point he joined the CBS team. He still took part in occasional tournaments during that time, but in more recent years he has been one of Sky Sports Golf’s main pundits.
Rich Beem
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, on the 24th of August 1970, Richard Michael Beem actually grew up in El Paso, Texas, before heading to New Mexico State University and playing college golf. In 1994, he chose to turn professional and five years later he won the Kemper Open as a rookie. Having won The International in 2002, he then entered the PGA Championship a fortnight later and won, taking home the only Major of his career and positioning himself in the Official World Golf Ranking top 20. Prior to that win, he was arguably better known for the book Bud, Sweat and Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour.
In 2007, when taking part in the Nissan Open, Beem made a hole-in-one on the 14th, broadcast live on television, which saw him win a Nissan Altima. He jumped onto the car in triumph in a sequence that was later made into a commercial for the car. It was in 2015 that Beem joined the Sky Sports team as a commentator and analyst, remaining in the role off and on ever since. If you play video games and feel as though you recognise Beem’s voice, that is probably because he was a colour commentator for both PGA Tour 2K21 and PGA Tour 2K23, which were games developed by HB Studios for the major gaming consoles.
Wayne Riley
It is probably fair to say that Wayne Riley’s voice is one that will either delight you or annoy you slightly to hear, such is the love-him-or-loathe-him nature of the Australian. Born in Sydney on the 17th of September 1962, he became a professional golfer 15 years later and won several tournaments in both his native country and New Zealand in the years that followed. Although he came through the qualifying school of the European Tour in 1984, he had to wait more than a decade before his first tournament win, which was the 1995 Scottish Open. A year later, he added the Portuguese Open to his list of accolades, but never won a Major.
From the moment that ‘Radar’ left the Tour, he has worked for Sky Sports as an on-course commentator. It is not uncommon to hear the commentator on Sky Sports Golf ask something along the lines of, “What has he got there, Radar?” At that point, Riley will let the audience know exactly what the lie looks like for the player that he’s following, as well as what the conditions are like on the golf course as they step up to take their shot. Having spent his life walking the fairways alongside the world’s best golfers, Radar has a story or two in his locker that tend to contain a degree of humour, whilst his green reading ability is not to be sniffed at.
Cornering the Market
Although other channels do offer the likes of highlights of the biggest golf competitions, Sky Sports Golf has all but cornered the market in terms of live coverage. As a result, the pool of talent that producers can turn to in order to get a fresh voice to offer an opinion or a thought about any given tournament is impressive. Names like Andrew Coltart, Richard Kaufman and Inci Mehmet can all be heard from on a regular basis, whilst punditry from Richard Boxall, Rob Lee and David Howell can be expected during the coverage. That is what being the biggest sports broadcaster in the country allows you to do, with Sky taking full advantage.
Those that enjoy their golf would also be quick to tell you that it is no bad thing that Sky Sports Golf are the broadcaster that you need to turn to if you want to get your fix of golf during the course of the year. From the level of the experts and pundits that they can turn to to explain what is taking place through to the technology that the company has at its disposal to be able to show you where the ball is going at any given moment, Sky Sports Golf have got their coverage absolutely nailed down. It is little wonder, therefore, that so many of the biggest names in the game are more than happy to work with them during a tournament.