Silence is not golden for Steve Elkington.
The former PGA Tour pro railed against CBS’ Masters coverage Sunday and was particularly peeved over the way the network handled Rory McIlroy’s struggles on the 72nd hole.
McIlroy missed a five-foot par putt for the win, and play-by-play man Jim Nantz simply said, “We’re going to a playoff,” after McIlroy tapped in for bogey.
“That could be the greatest collapse in golf history & f–king CBS says, ‘we have a playoff,'” Elkington wrote on X.
It seems the 62-year-old Australian wanted a little more criticism of McIlroy, who led for most of the day, from Nantz and the CBS analysts after the Northern Irishman missed an opportunity to seal the win.
The missed putt came after McIlroy, 35, hit his approach shot from 125 yards away into the right bunker.
“That was a wedge into the right bunker on 18…. A wedge,” Elkington commented.
However, it is not uncommon for announcers to stay quiet in big moments and let the noise of the crowd tell the story, and the shocked reaction from the Augusta fans did a good job of doing just that.
“Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman put on a broadcasting masterclass (Sunday),” one user wrote on X. “They said just 46 words in seven minutes of air-time after Rory made the winning putt. You could feel the emotion through the TV. Just incredible stuff.”
Elkington also claimed that CBS was “coronating” McIlroy during the round, which took a sudden turn when he put the ball in the water on 13 and made double bogey.
McIlroy would find redemption on the 18th hole in the playoff against Justin Rose, hitting an approach shot to four feet and making the birdie for the win to complete his career Grand Slam.
Elkington, who won the 1995 PGA Championship and his 10 career wins on tour, also spent plenty of time Sunday arguing with “crybaby losers” replying to his criticisms.
This was Nantz’s 40th year calling the Masters.