Tom Abbott (born 7 December 1981 in
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
) is a broadcaster and sports commentator, best known for his work with
The Golf Channel
Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...
and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. He serves as a presenter and commentator for coverage of the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
,
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...
, and
European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...
. Since 2010, Abbott has been co-host of
The Big Break
''The Big Break'' is a reality television program broadcast by the Golf Channel. The show's premise was to award an aspiring professional golfer exemptions into selected events or full-season exemptions on lower-level tours. The series debuted on ...
.
Early life
Abbott grew up in
Cheam
Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to ...
, a suburb of
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
. He attended
Wilson's School
Wilson's School is a state boys' grammar school with academy status in the London Borough of Sutton, England.
It was founded as Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell in 1615, making it one of the country's oldest state schools. The school move ...
, an all-boys' school in
Wallington, Surrey
Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton, in South London, England. It is south south-west of Charing Cross. Before the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington merged into the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London in 19 ...
. During his youth, Abbott was a keen golfer, representing Surrey at Junior and Men's level, and also playing for the England Schools' golf team. He played on the golf team at
Mercer University
Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 s ...
in
Macon, Georgia, graduating in 2004 with a degree in Media Business. In October 2015 Abbott was inducted into the
Mercer Athletic Hall of Fame.
Early career
Abbott began his broadcasting career at
Mercer University
Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 s ...
, helping to create an on-campus television station, Mercer99. While in Macon, he worked with local ABC affiliate WPGA-TV, appearing weekly on the "58 Sports Show". Abbott was an intern at
WGCL-TV
WANF (channel 46) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is the flagship property of locally based Gray Television and is co-owned with independent station WPCH-TV (channel 17) and low-power, Cl ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
. His first full-time broadcasting job came in 2004 with the then-brand-new
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliate in
Charlottesville, Virginia,
WCAV-TV
WCAV (channel 19) is a television station in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. It is owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group alongside low-power ABC affiliate WVAW-LD (channel 16). Both stations share studios on ...
. Abbott was the affiliate's first-ever Sports Anchor, helping to launch, and appearing on, the inaugural newscast for
CBS-19 News in November 2004.
Golf Channel
Abbott joined
Golf Channel
Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...
in November 2005 as a reporter and presenter for the network's UK Channel, based in
Orlando, Florida. He worked on the news show
Golf Central
''Golf Central'' is Golf Channel's news program. It was launched in 1995, in the same year as the network it airs on.
A nightly half-hour show, ''Golf Central'' features news and highlights from the major golf tours and events of the world, in add ...
, and also hosted
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...
coverage alongside
Laura Baugh.
The Golf Channel UK
Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...
went off the air on 31 December 2007 but Abbott was retained by the network to work on its U.S.-based operation.
In January 2008, he began hosting
European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...
coverage, as well as reporting and anchoring
Golf Central
''Golf Central'' is Golf Channel's news program. It was launched in 1995, in the same year as the network it airs on.
A nightly half-hour show, ''Golf Central'' features news and highlights from the major golf tours and events of the world, in add ...
. Abbott also became the voice behind the ''Top 10'' series for one season. In late 2008, Abbott began appearing on the network's
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...
coverage.
In 2009, Abbott reported on the announcement of golf's inclusion into the
Olympics from
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
. Seven years later at the games in Rio, golf returned to The Olympics and Abbott was part of the
NBC Sports broadcast team.
In 2010, Abbott replaced
Vince Cellini
Vincent Robert Cellini (; born June 10, 1959 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American sports broadcaster for radio and television, currently working at NBA TV and Turner Sports.
Early life and career
Cellini was a lifeguard at Grovewood, a city pool ...
as host of Golf Channel's hit series,
The Big Break
''The Big Break'' is a reality television program broadcast by the Golf Channel. The show's premise was to award an aspiring professional golfer exemptions into selected events or full-season exemptions on lower-level tours. The series debuted on ...
. Abbott has gone-on to host eleven seasons of Big Break, including Big Break NFL, alongside
Michele Tafoya
Michele Tafoya is an American former sportscaster. From 2011 to 2022, she was a reporter for NBC Sports, primarily as a sideline reporter for ''NBC Sunday Night Football''. She currently works as a political advisor and makes television appear ...
, and the latest season Big Break, The Palm Beaches, Florida which aired in early 2015. In June 2015, Golf Channel significantly reduced its original programming division putting
The Big Break
''The Big Break'' is a reality television program broadcast by the Golf Channel. The show's premise was to award an aspiring professional golfer exemptions into selected events or full-season exemptions on lower-level tours. The series debuted on ...
on-hold, it is unclear when the show will return to the network or whether Abbott will continue as host.
In 2012, Abbott made his first appearance on Golf Channel's
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
coverage. A year later, he appeared for the first time as an announcer and interviewer for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
at the
U.S. Women's Open
The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...
. Two years later, Abbott was part of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Later in 2014, he appeared as a tower announcer for NBC's coverage of
.
In 2015, Abbott called the winning putt for the USA in their victory over Europe at the
in Heidelberg, Germany. A few weeks later he was part of the commentary team for Golf Channel & NBC's coverage of the
in Songdo, South Korea, meaning by the age of 33 Abbott had commentated the Ryder, President's, Solheim and Walker Cups.
Golf Channel & NBC began a 13-year commitment to broadcast
.
Abbott resides in Orlando, Florida.