It’s much too early to determine the comeback player of the year in golf, but that’s not the case on the broadcast side.

Great to see Peter Kostis back on CBS’ golf crew for its coverage of the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. He had been out since last May after undergoing surgery and treatment for colon cancer.

Kostis had hoped to be back for the PGA Championship in August, but it didn’t work out. Recently, though, he was given a clean bill of health, making him ready to go for 2014.

Kyle Porter at CBSSports.com reports:

So last year when he had surgery for colon cancer on May 21 and the ensuing preventive chemotherapy that would accompany it, well, he didn’t realize how much he had to learn.

“I don’t know that anybody ever knows how good they can be at something or how well they can succeed at something until they face adversity. How you handle it determines who you are,” Kostis said.

Golf is so primarily about trust. Trusting the golf swing, trusting the putting stroke, trusting your yardages, trusting the process. It seemed like such a transferrable lesson for Kostis to apply to his fight against cancer given that it was something his students were always trying to do.

Trust.

“I kind of had always had that mindset, that [having a doctor me tell me I was cancer free] was going to be the conclusion of this process,” Kostis said.

Kostis’ CBS colleagues are thrilled about his return to duty. Yesterday, I asked them about Kostis on a conference call.

“As you know, it’s very tight family out here,” said Jim Nantz. “We do a lot together (on and off the course). Last year, we had a member of our team missing. So we’re happy to have Peter back.”

Besides his on-course analysis, Nantz says Kostis, a noted instructor, is the best in the business in breaking down and explaining a player’s swing.

“I have been over-lessoned in my life,” Nantz said. “Peter has this knack when he sees someone swing once, he can tell you so succinctly what the player did. And he can do it in simple terms. He does it better than anyone ever has. It is a gift.”