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NBC gets U.S. Open as Fox gets out of contract

The U.S. Open is returning to NBC starting this year at Winged Foot after Fox Sports asked to end its 12-year contract with the USGA.

The announcement was made Monday by the USGA.

The U.S. Open, originally scheduled to be played last week, was postponed to Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot in New York when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months.

NBC televised the U.S. Open from 1995 through 2014. That ended when the USGA signed a 12-year deal with Fox Sports worth about $1 billion that began in 2015.

Fox broadcast its first U.S. Open from Chambers Bay south of Seattle, with Greg Norman as the lead analyst. He was replaced by former PGA champion and Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger.

ESPN now has the weekday rounds of the PGA Championship starting this year, with CBS broadcasting the weekend.

The deal gives Comcast-owned NBC, along with Golf Channel, the U.S. Open and British Open, The Players Championship, three World Golf Championships, the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. It also will have the FedEx Cup playoffs every other year when the new media rights deal with the PGA Tour begins.

NBC and Golf Channel also will have all the majors on the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.