Sky Sports forced to issue apology at The Open thanks to Ryder Cup captain

Sky Sports was forced to issue an apology after Keegan Bradley dropped an F-bomb after he missed a bogey putt during the second round of The Open.

The Team USA captain at last year's Ryder Cup started Friday's play one under par after he scored 69 on the opening day, but got off to a poor start on day two of the tournament.

Bradley began his second round with a double-bogey on the par-four first hole, giving himself plenty of work to do as he searched for his best finish at The Open. The 40-year-old has never finished higher than tied for 15th in the leaderboard and let his frustrations get the better of him on Friday morning.

After he missed a bogey putt on the first hole of the day, the former PGA Championship winner was heard swearing on the course, which was picked up by the television broadcasters at just 8:15 am.

Sky Sports commentator Tim Barter said: "Keegan Bradley, Ryder Cup captain for the Americans last time, is having his problems. Sorry if you heard some inappropriate language there. That is not the start he was looking for, stating the bloomin' obvious."

Nick Dougherty then interjected: "Shows you how psychological the game is. He played beautifully last year. The Ryder Cup has had an effect on his own personal performance, the aftermath of it, such was the heartbreak of it.

Barter then replied: "The Ryder Cup's just been cruel to him his whole career. There's no one in America who loves it more than he, and he's had nothing but disappointment as a player, and now as a captain."

Bradley is not only aiming to record his best-ever finish at The Open this weekend, but is also aiming to make the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time. He currently sits 75th in the rankings, with only the top 70 players qualifying for the St. Jude Championship next month.

Speaking after his opening round on Thursday, Bradley was asked about his current form: "Not that great, but it's been a challenging year. Coming off of last year and the Ryder Cup and everything, just trying to get back to normal. I'm starting to feel better.

"But I'm in a unique position in my career where I'm trying to make the (FedEx Cup) playoffs for the first time in my career. So it's kind of like in a weird way kind of fun."

He added: "It's so tough coming off these Ryder Cups. Like, I'm in, again, a unique position of a person that's going back out and supposed to be a premier, top player trying to win tournaments and trying to navigate that, but we're getting there.