Golf broadcasts are used to dealing with hot-mic profanity from the golfers, but Smylie Kaufman graced us with the rare announcer F-bomb.<\/p>\n
During NBC\u2019s coverage of the Open Championship on USA Network Friday afternoon, play-by-play announcer Dan Hicks<\/a> sent it to on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman as Jon Rahm was putting for a long birdie.<\/p>\n HOT MIC ALERT! \ud83d\udea8 \ud83d\udea8 \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n Players aren\u2019t the only ones dropping F-bombs. It\u2019s reached the announcer\u2019s booth, too.#TheOpen<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/S05FoXpIjO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jason Krump (@JasonKrump) July 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the more difficult holes today, this hole location\u2026\u201d said Kaufman. And as challenging as the hole may have been for Rahm and the other golfers, it must have been equally difficult for Kaufman. Because the next thing he said was a hushed, but audible \u201cwhat the f***?\u201d<\/p>\n About 15 minutes later, Mike Tirico was tasked with issuing an apology for Kaufman and NBC, where he appeared to blame the foreign headsets at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, which apparently don\u2019t work quite the same as the ones back home in the United States.<\/p>\n Mike Tirico issues an apology.<\/p>\n \u201cTechnical issues with our microphones\u2026\u201d pic.twitter.com\/7xVWcM8cA3<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jason Krump (@JasonKrump) July 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEarlier we had some technical issues with our microphones,\u201d Tirico said. \u201cWhen you come over here, our on-course reporter, sometimes the headsets don\u2019t work the same way they do back home. Because of that, it led to some language getting through on the air that shouldn\u2019t have gotten through. So, we just want take the time to apologize for that comment getting through back home.\u201d<\/p>\n An apology would have sufficed, even without the explanation. But maybe Tirico is right and the F-bomb really was due to those foreign headsets. They drive on the opposite side of the road in Ireland; perhaps they put the mute button on the opposite side of their headsets.<\/p>\n For his part Kaufman offered an apology on social media afterward.<\/p>\n Hey yall! I made a double bogey at 15 today with a bizarre audio situation. Sorry about that as I clearly didn\u2019t know I was on air \ud83d\ude33! Apologies and a lesson learned! pic.twitter.com\/psCDnZfR2m<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Smylie Kaufman (@SmylieKaufman10) July 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \t