Kevin Kisner’s passionate feelings about CBS’ Masters coverage may have been shared by fans — but those in his golf broadcasting orbit did not seem to appreciate.
Kisner, the lead golf voice for NBC, apologized for his strong comments about some issues CBS had on Sunday during the final round at Augusta as Rory McIlroy claimed his second straight green jacket.
“It’s been an interesting few days but it is what it is and I just have to apologize for the golf team at CBS,” Kisner said. “I crossed the line probably too much by talking about the content and I know from my short time in the business how wild production is.
“It’s very difficult to produce a live show and make it all work and everybody does their best. NBC screws up all the time and we are just trying to do our best. I went too far on being critical on them and just want all the people associated with it to know I apologize. They are our partners with the PGA Tour and they continue to showcase in a great way the game we all love.”
Kisner’s main frustration was with the delay between live action and the shots being shown on the broadcast. Kisner, who was working for Sirius/XM at Augusta, estimated that as much as 10 minutes had passed by the time CBS got around to showing some shots.
“Do y’all ever show a live shot?” Kisner said as part of a lengthy rant. “I’m better off following the f–king app than your feed. So your entire Masters coverage is a fantasy world, it’s bulls–t. Whatever y’all watch happened seven minutes ago.”
Kisner revealed a text exchange he had with CBS analyst Colt Knost in which he questioned his fellow former pro on what the network was thinking.
“He might soon find out that this golf television thing is a tight syndicate and this is not how this game is traditionally played and won. Watching the back 9 closely on this…” former CBS Sports PR boss LeslieAnne Wade tweeted about the initial comments.
Kisner’s remarks came while he was co-hosting Barstool Sport’s “ForePlay” podcast. He noted the challenges of being an NBC analyst, a podcast co-host and a part-time player.
“I feel like I am wearing so many hats… I am going to screw up. I probably shouldn’t have gone down that road at all. I could have just stepped out and said, ‘I was involved in the tournament, I don’t really need to have an opinion on it,’” Kisner said. “Then we sit here all the time and I do have an opinion and I want to tell my opinions, so it’s an interesting line to walk.
“I am sure we’re going to have people coming after us once I get on the NBC show now. I can handle it, it’s all good. I am not trying to hurt somebody when I have that opinion, that’s the craziest thing in the world. I was just frustrated as others and let it all come out. Pissed some people off, apologized to them and won’t do it again.”
Kisner said he was on a turkey hunt without cell service when his initial comments blew up on Tuesday.
“I came out of the woods and was like, ‘Oh, my phone was blowing up. What’s going on?’” Kisner said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
