PGA Tour golfer issues public apology after Masters over 'off-limits' remarks

Kevin Kisner has apologised for his brutal criticism of CBS Sports' coverage of The Masters in a public statement.

Millions across the world tuned in to watch Rory McIlroy make history at Augusta National this year as the Northern Irishman became only the fourth man to win in back to back years.

In the USA, CBS share broadcasting rights to the iconic golf tournament with ESPN, with the final round averaged over 14 million viewers on CBS, as per SportsPro.

At the peak, 20.05 million viewers tuned into CBS' coverage, the most since 2013, but many fans were critical of how the network covered the competition.

Among the most frustrated at how CBS covered The Masters was former PGA star Kisner, who went on a brutal rant about key shots being missed over the four rounds during an appearance on Barstool Sports’ Fore Play podcast.

But now, Kisner, the head voice of golf for rival network NBC, has returned to the podcast to issue an apology directly to CBS sports, admitting he had taken things too far.

“It’s been an interesting few days, but it is what it is,” Kisner said on the podcast.

“I just have to apologise to the the golf team at CBS. I crossed the line probably, too much by talking about that whole content.

"And I know from my short time in the business how wild production is, right? 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, and we’re just trying to do our best, and I went too far on being critical on them, and I just want all the people associated with it to know I apologise.

“They’re our partners with the PGA Tour and they continue to showcase in a great way the game we all love, and they’re all trying to do their best, and I was too critical of them.”

Among the issues raised with CBS' coverage were question marks over the decision to film McIlroy's Masters-winning putt from behind, meaning the golf ball wasn't entirely visible.

In fact, the camera angle meant that McIlroy's own legs blocked the view of the ball entering the hole.

However, in a response to Kisner's criticism CBS lead commentator Jim Nantz defended the decision on The Pat McAfee Show, saying: ""It's live television. We all make mistakes.

"If he [McIlroy] would have missed [the final putt], we would have had the all-time story in the history of golf."