The tower near the 16th green stands about 15 feet off the ground. There are 13 rungs to climb before settling into one of the best seats in sports. It’s become tougher and tougher to navigate, but Verne Lundquist will do it for a final time this weekend, willing his 83-year-old knees up the ladder, settling in his perch and once again telling the world the story of golf’s most storied tournament.

The green tower resembles a hunting shack, and from up top Lundquist has seen big game pass through for 40 years, Tigers and Bears and everything in between. He’s witnessed history and told us about it as only he can: understated, enthusiastic, passionate.

Lundquist began thinking a couple of years ago about the best time to walk away. He stopped calling college football games in 2016 and retired from college basketball two years later. But he was still drawn to Augusta each April. He settled on his 40th Masters because it “had a nice round feel to it,” he said.

He first covered the event in 1983 when Seve Ballesteros won his second green jacket. He left CBS in 1997 for a brief stint at Turner Sports but was lured back. CBS chairman Sean McManus approached Lundquist at the Nagano Olympics, tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Are you ready to come home?”