Ernie Els showed his true colors in meeting with 'nervous' Amanda Balionis

Irish Daily Star

23-04-2025

Amanda Balionis proved exactly how Ernie Els
lived up to his "Big Easy" nickname
after recalling the story of their first meeting at
the very beginning
of her career.
The popular sportscaster
has become one of the very best in the business
as a result of her down to earth personality and
excellent interviewing skills
, providing her with opportunities to pose questions to some of the biggest names in
golf
over the years.
Now with CBS Sports
, she is primarily seen
covering the PGA Tour
all around the country.
But like everyone else, the 38-year-old
has had to work her way up from the bottom
and after initially breaking onto the scene covering
high school sports
for Verizon Fios Channel 1 and MSG Networks,
Balionis
would eventually join up with the PGA Tour as an in-house reporter and host in 2011, which proved to be a major turning point.
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Speaking with
Links Magazine
last year, Balionis revealed that the first PGA Tour pro she ever interviewed was four-time major champion Els, not long before he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. With 18 PGA Tour wins and three majors under his belt at the time, Balionis couldn't have found a bigger star to interview.
But despite being one of golf's biggest stars, Balionis recalled how comfortable Els made her feel at a time when she was still finding her feet in the media world. "He's always been so good to me, and I was too new to the golf world to know that I should be nervous for that one," she said. "He just looks like a big teddy bear!"
Despite earning his "Big Easy" nickname as a result of his physical stature and fluid golf swing, Els certainly appeared to show he was exactly that when it came to interviewing him, with his relaxed personality and accessibility making him a relatively easy interviewee. As a first interview for a 25-year-old Balionis, it was more than ideal.
Balionis has gone on to interview some of the biggest names in the sport since her first meeting with Els
(Image: Getty Images)
Unfortunately for the popular sportscaster, however, she wasn't quite as relaxed for her second interview, which just so happened to be with none other than Tiger Woods. Reflecting back on that moment, Balionis admitted she "lost a lot of sleep" the night before she was due to speak with the PGA Tour legend for the first time.
When asked which athlete or personality has caused her to become the most nervous before an interview, she said, without hesitating: "Tiger Woods, for sure. When I started with PGATour.com, I think Tiger was my second ever sit-down interview. I'm very thankful the camera angle was from the waist up as my legs were shaking uncontrollably from nervousness."
Fast forward to the present day and Balionis is almost always the first one to speak with the winners of each PGA Tour event she covers. Whether that be
Rory McIlroy
following his
historic Masters victory
earlier this month, or Justin Thomas
after he won the RBC Heritage last week
, she is always primed with the most important questions.
Some of those interviews stand out for their pure emotion, too. On Sunday, Thomas struggled to keep the tears at bay after sinking a victory-sealing putt at Harbour Town Golf Links, where he was joined by his wife, Jillian, and their baby girl, Molly. Yet it was CBS reporter
Balionis' questions
that truly brought forth the tidal wave of emotion.