Golf Fans Fume As CBS Completely Botches Dramatic Masters Finish

Love him or hate him, Rory McIlroy is what golf needs right now. Every sport needs a villain (or hero, depending on where you stand), and Rory has beautifully filled those shoes. He’s now a back-to-back Masters champion, and both times have come with a heaping helping of drama. Of course, Sunday’s final hole was bungled so badly by CBS, I’m not sure anyone fully appreciated this one. For those who missed it, Rory needed a simple bogey on 18 to win his second straight Masters. Easy, right? Wrong! He sliced one off the tee worse than I do at my local muni, and found himself in the woods with a tight little window to the green. The drama was there, again. Last year, he folded – and then unfolded. What would happen this time around? Would we get a Scottie-Rory playoff at Augusta? It was certainly on the table, depending on how McIlroy’s next shot went. It was perfectly set up for CBS. Another ‘Masters Moment.’ We were all on the edge of our couches, fresh off an incredible Sunday nap. And then … we missed it. We missed all of it, because CBS had NO idea where the ball went. Here’s the clip of Rory’s second shot, which starts around the 4:07 mark:Amazing, isn’t it? I watched it live, obviously, but it’s even worse seeing it again today. CBS and Augusta have been partners forever. Trust me, Jim Nantz told us a billion times this weekend. They’ve had a longstanding partnership that’s been pretty terrific. But this is just inexcusable. That was, easily, the biggest shot of the tournament, and they completely botched it. NOBODY knew where Rory’s ball was. The camera operators had no clue, Jim Nantz had no clue, although he ventured a guess that it was somewhere “around” the green. Dottie Pepper said the “8 iron” was on the way. Trevor Immelman noted that it sounded “solid.” Things really spiraled after, because not only did the broadcast have no clue where Rory’s shot landed … they were equally confused by Cam Young’s approach! Hell, they didn’t even show Young’s shot tracer. The camera just stayed on him the whole time. Jim said, “He hated it,” and then we went back to the aerial shot of the 18th green with no mention of where either shot actually landed. It was a full 90 seconds until we FINALLY saw one single golf ball in the bunker. Again, just stunning. But wait – as they say – there’s MORE:That’s Rory’s winning putt, by the way. Yes, it went in. You would have no earthly idea by the angle, but I promise, it went in. CBS could have picked so many ways to show the final putt, and they chose Rory McIlroy’s ass. Just stunning. Look, shooting golf ain’t easy. I get that, completely. You’re trying to track a tiny white ball in the air, going against a giant white sky, traveling hundreds of yards. But, again, this was not CBS’s first rodeo. As Jim Nantz noted, this was their 70th year together – the longest-running relationship in sports. You sort of run out of excuses when you hit the 7-decade mark. CBS whiffed Sunday when all eyes were on them. Let’s hope that doesn’t become a tradition unlike any other.