In the wake of his expletive-laced criticism of CBS’s coverage of the Masters, NBC Sports golf analyst Kevin Kisner has apologized for those comments, saying they “crossed the line.”
Appearing on the “Fore Play” podcast for the second time in three days, Kinser walked back his harsh words about several technical aspects of Sunday’s broadcast of the Masters’ final round, in which Rory McIlroy won his second consecutive green jacket.
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“I just have to apologize to the golf team at CBS,” he said. “I crossed the line probably too much by talking about that whole content … It is a very difficult thing to produce a live show and make it all work, and everybody does their best. NBC screws up all the time – we’re just trying to do our best. I went too far in being critical of them.”
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy closed out the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National with a final‑round performance that secured victory on Sunday.
These images tracked McIlroy through the final round as he finished on top of the leaderboard at the Masters.
Above, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland played his shot from the seventh tee during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy closed out the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National with a final‑round performance that secured victory on Sunday.
These images tracked McIlroy through the final round as he finished on top of the leaderboard at the Masters.
Above, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland played his shot from the seventh tee during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland putts on the second green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks off the fourth tee during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the third tee during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy plays an approach shot on the 15th hole during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy putts on the ninth green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks to the seventh green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and caddie Harry Diamon wait on the first fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy walks on the sixth green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the fifth tee during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Patrons watch as Rory McIlroy tees off on the third hole during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy watches his putt on the 15th green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy reacts toward the patrons after making a birdie putt on the eighth green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy walks the 13th fairway during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the fifth hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy tees off on the 12th hole during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his shot from the third tee during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Cameron Young and Rory McIlroy prepare to putt on the 11th green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up a putt on the fourth green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy gestures to patrons after putting for a birdie on the 13th green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Cameron Young putted for par.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks to the fourth tee during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026 in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Cameron Young of the United States and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks the second fairway during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the fifth hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts on the fourth green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts on the fourth green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy reacts towards the patrons after making a birdie on the third hole during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy walks up to the first green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy plays a shot from a bunker on the second fairway during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy reacts on the fifth green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy takes a shot on the first fairway during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy, caddie caddie Harry Diamond and Cameron Young, and caddie Kyle Sterbinsky walk up the first fairway during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and his caddie Harry Diamond waits on the 17th hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy looks over the 16th green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the 13th hole during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up a shot on the 18th green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland chips onto the 17th green during the final round of the 2026 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy reacts after a putt on the fifth green during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rory McIlroy earns a second green jacket at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy greets Cameron Young before teeing off on the first hole during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
Kisner, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and a member of Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links TGL team, serves as a golf analyst for NBC Sports and was also covering this year’s Masters for SiriusXM Radio.
On Tuesday’s podcast, he called out CBS for several missed camera shots during Sunday’s final round and for showing taped action that gave viewers the impression it was live.
“I was so (expletive) confused the entire time by trying to keep up with the behind-the-scenes CBS feed,” Kisner said on the April 14 episode.
Kevin Kisner hits his tee shot on the fifth of of the 2025 RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
However, given some time to reflect on what he said − and the criticism that followed − Kisner was effusive in his praise for CBS and the challenges it faces putting on a live broadcast.
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“They continue to showcase, in a great way, the game we all love,” Kinser said. “Everyone’s trying to do their best, and I was too critical.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin Kisner apologizes to CBS for critical Masters coverage comments
