For those who missed the voice of Paul Azinger and the freewheeling opinions of NBC Sports did not renew his contract at the end of 2023, it returns to the stand. The 12-time PGA Tour winner and former Ryder Cup captain told Golfweek on Monday that he will work part-time on the Golf Channel for 10-12 PGA Tou Champions tournaments in 2025. Azinger said he has a one-year contract, not with NBC Sports, but PGA Tour Entertainment, which controls the talent for the senior circuit.

“It’s not like a full-time gig or anything, which I don’t want. To be able to get in there and part-time some golf, really great golf, it’s going to be kind of fun,” Azinger told Golfweek. “I’ll be as honest as I can and I’ll be happy.”

Azinger, 64, replaces Champions Tour leader Lanny Wadkins, who announced his retirement last week. When Azinger is sidelined, Peter Jacobsen and John Cook will split their time as lead analysts, Golfweek reported. Cook will still do his on-race reporting when he’s not in the main seat.

“Paul brings a lot of credibility to that chair and has a lot of creative ideas that we think can only add to our overall broadcast,” Miller Brady, president of PGA Tour Champions, told Golfweek.

Azinger returns to the NBC Sports fold after an acrimonious split late last year. After being cut, Azinger told numerous media outlets that he expected to work the 2024 season as usual and then talk about extending it for another four years. Azinger said an initial NBC offer was presented, but when his agent talked about a counteroffer, the network said it was “moving forward.”

NBC never identified a permanent replacement for Azinger this year, rotating numerous players into the analyst role.

Initially, Azinger responded with appreciation for his five years in the analyst’s chair. But in an interview with Golfweek last March, he lamented the state of professional golf and how his time at NBC ended. “I wish it could have ended better for me,” he said. “I was ready to move on and I thought we were negotiating in good faith.”

“I don’t want to get in too much hot water and make big headlines or anything, but the best players aren’t on the PGA Tour,” Azinger said in the same interview. “They are scattered everywhere and this is a sad day, similar to what happened in tennis. The best players will be at the four majors, just like tennis, and it’s happening right before our eyes.”

Nearly a year after being let go, Azinger appears to have reconciled with at least some of NBC and the tour.

“Hopefully that’s water under the bridge and everyone moves on. I know Paul wants to move on and we want to move on,” Brady told Golfweek on Monday.

Azinger, whose dozen wins include the 1993 PGA Championship, has played just four events in total on the Champions Tour, all in 2010. Still, he hinted in March that he would be ready to broadcast for the circuit. “I’d rather call the Senior Tour than the PGA Tour to tell you the truth. I’m done on the PGA Tour,” Azinger told Golfweek. “To name the best senior players in the world, at least they are the best.”