Cara Banks named lead play-by-play voice for NBC's LPGA coverage

HOUSTON — A new but familiar face will be in the booth this weekend for the Chevron Championship as Cara Banks has been named the lead play-by-play voice for NBC Sports' LPGA coverage.

Banks will call the third round of the LPGA major on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, and the final round on Sunday at 2 p.m.

While this marks Banks' first time calling the Chevron, she was in the play-by-play role a number of times last season, including the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Mizuho Americas Open, and lead-in coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open. She also worked in the booth at the 2021 ShopRite LPGA Classic.

Banks will be joined at Houston's Memorial Park Golf Course by analysts Morgan Pressel, Tom Abbott, and Paige Mackenzie. Jim “Bones” Mackay and Emilia Doran will provide on-course reporting, while Amy Rogers conducts interviews.

Banks, a mother of three, once told Golfweek that her career inspiration began with Davina McCall, the British presenter who rose to fame as the host of the television series “Big Brother."

“I loved how it felt like she was talking to you,” said Banks, who studied politics at Newcastle University but took her first job as a runner on a Saturday night chat show making cups of tea.

Cara Banks will be the play-by-play voice for this week's Chevron Championship coverage on NBC.

Banks realized early on, however, that sport suited her more than entertainment and the 6-foot-1 netballer, having been brought up in a golfing family, took a job as production secretary for European Tour productions at IMG.

In 2015, Banks joined Golf Channel as a co-host for "Morning Drive" and later served as a studio host for "Golf Central" and "Live From" shows at the game's biggest events.

In addition to her work as a reporter for NBC Sports' PGA Tour coverage, Banks recently served as an alpine skiing reporter at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.