Now you might get some arguments from Democrats about Fox News’ “fair and balanced” motto, but that’s the approach Greg Norman says he will use in his new role as Fox Sports’ lead analyst. Fox will air the U.S. Open and other USGA events, beginning in 2015.

The 59-year-old Norman was the best “get” for Fox. He has the big-name, Hall of Fame pedigree, and never has been shy to voice his opinions. Plus, he’s “The Shark.”

However, while he said he admires Johnny Miller, I wouldn’t expect Norman to that outspoken.

“My objective is not to be criticizing golfers,” Norman said. “My objective is to be fair and balanced. If I see something that I feel is very pertinent to the situation, I will explain that view to the audience, and I want it to be very fan-friendly and informative. Being informative is not sugar-coating the situation and not addressing some serious issues that could arise in the game of golf, which we have seen in the past. It’s incumbent upon myself and Joe and every other member of our team who has a microphone in their hand to have the confidence and the willingness to express themselves.”

Fox Sports president Eric Shanks invoked a lofty comparison when talking about Norman.

“Greg [Norman], just like John [Madden], will really set the philosophy for what we do here,” Shanks said. “There’s probably no person I have met that hasn’t been a part of FOX Sports that seems like he should be part of FOX Sports more than Greg. We feel like there is already a connection between some of his thoughts and what the FOX Sports brand is.”

I had the distinction of asking Norman the mandatory Tiger Woods question. Norman’s answer revealed a glimpse of his broadcast approach. He contends Woods has enough left in the tank to win another major, but not the five required to break Jack Nicklaus’ record.

“The older he gets, the younger the other players are,” Norman said. “He’s getting up into his high 30s. The intimidation factor is not the same there. You have to understand, the older you get, the nerves are not the same. Brain is telling us, yes we can do it, but at the same time our body is reacting just a little bit differently than when we were acting in our heydays.

“So these young kids have no nerves. They are going to go take it at you. They don’t care who you are or what you’re doing. They want to rip the number one off your back whichever way they can. It’s going to be a lot more problematic for him as he goes forward. But that can also be a great stimulant for him . . . But time is not on his side, nor is his physical conditioning, his body, from what I’m understanding.”

If you thought Fox would tread gingerly into this golf thing, well, you don’t know Fox.

During a teleconference to officially unveil Joe Buck and Greg Norman as its 18th hole announcers, the Fox gang was typically bold in discussing their plans for golf. The network takes over the U.S. Open and other USGA events in 2015.

“I think I’ve been here long enough to know that today is a big day for Fox Sports,” Buck said. “It says a lot about the USGA that they are willing to take this leap with us. Like I told [USGA President] Tom O’Toole, who I’ve known pretty much my whole life, he is going to be blown away, as will the golf world, with the effort and the ability that we’re going to throw at this. We’ll push golf coverage like Fox Sports pushed NFL coverage, MLB coverage and NASCAR coverage. It’s a good partnership both ways.”

Mark Loomis, Fox’s new coordinating producer for golf, also showed he is quick to learn how Fox operates.

“Fox Sports has proven over the years that we can always push technology to the next step, so I think there will be some real interesting opportunities for us to look at before we go on air,” Loomis said. “The other aspect is taking a fresh approach to golf coverage with a fresh group of people. Any time you put together a group that hasn’t been together before, you don’t have a ‘this is how we do it’ mentality; you have a ‘what’s the best way to do it’ mentality. That starts with the booth and goes all the way down to production and engineering, so I’m really excited for the next year to see how it grows. Our philosophy is to cover the event and to find new ways to tell the story.”

The “new ways” are exactly what have golf fans apprehensive about Fox landing the U.S. Open. New doesn’t always equate to better. Golf, in particular, is a sport that doesn’t welcome much deviation from the way it has been traditionally presented on television.

Fox Sports president Eric Shanks did try to assure everyone that the network won’t utilize a glowing golf ball.

“First and foremost, you respect the sport,” Shanks said. “If you remember when we first got the NFL, a lot of people were thinking that we were going to come in and do something completely different. There was talk about having Bart Simpson in the booth calling the games, and we went out and got John Madden and Pat Summerall…First and foremost it’s about the event, and there is no way that FOX Sports’ brand or FOX Sports’ attitude is going to be put above the USGA and the US Open brand.”

Fox has more than a year to determine its exact coverage. And it still has a long way to go. Unlike the other sports, golf requires multiple announcers and analysts. The network still has many, many hires to fill out the rest of team. They will be vitally important if this enterprise is going to be a success.

Golf doesn’t end with the final round of the Masters on Sunday evening

If you love the game, or specifically one player, be sure to set aside time to watch Arnie, the first of a three-part documentary on the Golf Channel (10 p.m. ET; parts 2 and 3 air Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET).

Here is a preview.

The films are billed as the Golf Channel’s most ambitious project. Rightfully so, since Palmer was one of the founders of the network.

Obviously, Palmer’s life and enduring legacy make him more than worthy of such an endeavor. Part 1 gets the core of the man: the incredible connection he had and still has with fans.

More than anything else, Palmer is the quintessential people person. That trait makes him arguably the most beloved sports figure of his time, if not all time.

Golf Channel ties it all together with more than 100 interviews and reflections from Palmer himself. Tom Selleck narrates the films.

Definitely worth your time.

Excerpts from the teleconference on Arnie:

Palmer: I had to get the Kleenex out when I was watching it. It brought me back to my world of so many years ago. I really can’t even think about it. It made me think and get pretty emotional.

Golf Channel President Mike McCarley: It is the most ambitious original film in the 20-year history of Golf Channel. Many of you probably know that Mr.Palmer was one of the two founders of Golf Channel nearly 20 years ago, and it’s a very special project for that reason because he is so near and dear to all of our hearts, also because his influence on the game and the impact that he’s made on sports and popular culture.

What we set out to do was really tell the definitive story on the life and legacy of Mr.Palmer.  I think the best way to describe the overall idea of the project is that there is an idea of all of the fans who he has touched over a very long and very interesting career, how can all of those fans say thank you to him, and how then can he say thank you to all of them. And that’s really what we’ve set out to do.

As I write this, it is 9:30 a.m. in Chicago. The second round of the Masters is well under way. Leaders Bubba Watson and Louie Oosthuizen are on the course.

I really would like to watch them and the others play. But I won’t be able to for another 4 1/2 hours. ESPN’s coverage doesn’t come on until 3 p.m. ET (2 Central). That means if Watson or any of other morning players go crazy low, we won’t be able to see one shot of their round.

Thus, my annual plea to Augusta National to please, please, PLEASE expand the live coverage of the Masters. Get with the program. All of the other majors feature Thursday and Friday action from sunrise to sundown on the various networks.

Yet the Masters continues to stick to its policy of limiting coverage of its event. Sure, the club has expanded TV exposure in recent years, but it still doesn’t compare.

I know the Masters is streaming live coverage via its website. But it hardly is a conventional golf telecast. Also, the beauty of Augusta National isn’t the same on your computer as it is on your big screen TV.

I’m really surprised Augusta National chairman Billy Payne hasn’t done more to expand the TV window. I always viewed him as being more progressive when it came to TV. I thought he would do away with the archaic policies regarding live coverage.

Please, Billy, hear the plea from me and countless other golf fans. We would tune in to coverage from Augusta National if only to watch the grass grow. Next year, grant our wish and let us be able to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner while watching the Masters.

Everyone has seen Nick Faldo’s personality transformation ever since he gave up competitive golf to be a TV analyst. The ice-cold player actually has become an engaging, fun-loving guy.

Now viewers will get to see yet another side of Faldo, the emotional side.

Prior to the final round Sunday (1 p.m. ET on CBS), there will a special, Jim Nantz Remembers Nick Faldo at the Masters.

Nantz details Faldo’s three Masters victories and his life on and off the course. The film even includes a trip back to his childhood home in England.

It turns out Faldo needed quite a bit of Kleenex to get through his interviews with Nantz.

“He put me through the wringer of emotions,” Faldo said. “He winds me up pretty good. My kids are going to go, ‘Oh no, here he goes again.'”

Nantz said: “There is a lot of emotion behind this knight in shining armor.”

Here is the official rundown from CBS:

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CBS Sports broadcasts a CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR special JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: NICK FALDO AT THE MASTERS® on Sunday, April 13 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.   Jim Nantz, this year covering his 29th Masters for CBS Sports, and 27th as host, looks back at the career of one of the tournament’s most dynamic champions and CBS Sports colleague, Sir Nick Faldo, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Faldo winning his first green jacket.

In a tournament that featured wind, rain and the gloom of night, it was Faldo who solidified his reputation as one of golf’s premier major championship performers when he rolled in a birdie putt in the Masters’ fourth ever sudden-death playoff in 1989.  The one-hour special takes a look back at that memorable tournament, as well as Faldo’s victory the following year, again in a sudden-death playoff to become only the second champion in Masters history to win back-to-back championships.  It also revisits his improbable third win in 1996 over the snake-bitten runner-up, Greg Norman.

Along with looking back 25 years at his memorable moments and glorious triumphs at Augusta, the special also includes a side rarely seen of Sir Nick as he, along with Nantz, goes back to his roots in England which includes an afternoon with his Mum and a visit to the house where he was born and raised.

“We focused our story this year on my broadcast partner, Sir Nick Faldo,” said Nantz.  “We flew to Welwyn Garden City in England and visited his original home, the school he attended, and the golf course where he grew up.  It was a real privilege to visit those places and better understand how he made a name for himself.  His journey to the top of the world of golf has never been documented like this.    Fans will have a whole new respect for Faldo the man, and Faldo the champion golfer.”

Here’s another “tradition unlike any other”: Dan Jenkins at the Masters.

Jenkins will be covering his 64th Masters, dating back to Ben Hogan’s hey day. If Moses swung a club, Jenkins probably saw it.

Thanks to Twitter, we don’t have to wait to read what’s on Jenkins’ mind. We get his unique, shall we say, observations instantaneously via his Twitter feed; with the assistance of Golf Digest executive editor Mike O’Malley.

Here are some early tweets, as Jenkins is just loosening up.

Also highly recommended for Jenkins fans is his new book, His Ownself: A Semi-Memoir.

Jenkins details his own incredible life as only he can. At 84, he delivers one-liners that will have you laughing out loud.

The opening paragraph in the book gets to the essence of Jenkins.

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It seems to me that in my busiest years of writing for a living, I spent most of my free times in convivial bars. I didn’t seek out the bars so much for the whiskey as I did for the atmosphere. A decent bar was a place where I could sip a cocktail, smoke a cigarette, have engrossing conversations with friends, and if there was music at all it was a jukebox with Sinatra and Judy and others on it with a regard for melody–in contrast to today’s eruptions of Krakatoa. I could sit in comfort and eventually reach for a cheese stick or a deviled egg. Dinner at last.

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In a review for Golf World, Bill Fields writes:

If there is a recurring theme in His Ownself, it is that the man behind the humor (“The necessity of injuring a person with a comment or a joke in the pursuit of truth,” is a Jenkins sportswriting tenet) was having the last laugh all along. Just as Arnold Palmer, someone else he wrote a lot about, has never tired of being Arnold Palmer, Dan Jenkins has never tired of being Dan Jenkins.

That explains why he’s at 220 major championships and counting, an astounding attendance record in his lodge that, like Byron Nelson’s 11 consecutive victories in 1945, will never be broken.