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Smylie Kaufman apologizes for NSFW comment during Open Championship

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs07/18/25grant_grubbs_
Smylie Kaufman f bomb apology the open
Photo via @SmylieKaufman10 | X

On Friday, NBC Sports/Golf Channel on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman shocked viewers when he accidentally dropped an F-bomb while live on air for The Open Championship. Kaufman addressed the mistake on Friday afternoon after the event had wrapped up for the day.

“Welp, uh, I guess there’s a first for everything,” Kaufman said. “First off, I want to apologize for the audio blunder that happened today to me out on the 15th hole. Heard a pop in my ear, went radio silent, which signals typically for me that my mic is down and clearly it wasn’t.

“So, I want to apologize for what happened to the team, those listening and, of course, gonna move past this one and definitely will not happen again. And looking forward to a great weekend. So, sorry, guys.”

Kaufman’s explicit slip-up occurred during a Jon Rahm birdie putt on hole 14. His four-letter mistake was broadcast over the airwaves on the USA Network. Shortly after the production gaffe, NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico issued an on-air apology.

“Earlier, we had some technical issues with our microphones,” Tirico said. “When we come over here, our on-course reporters, sometimes the headsets don’t work the same way they do back home. Because of that, led to some language getting through on the air that shouldn’t have gotten through. So, just wanted to take some time to apologize for that comment getting through back home.”

More on Smylie Kaufman

Kaufman, who played collegiate golf at LSU, turned professional in 2014 and played until 2017. He boasts two professional wins, one on the PGA Tour and one on the Web.com Tour. Kaufman burst onto the PGA scene with a win in the 2015 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Five months prior, he won the United Leasing Championship.

The former Tiger joined NBC Sports in January 2023 and has served as an on-course reporter for its golf coverage. He made his on-air debut at the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open and has since worked additional TOUR and amateur events on GOLF Channel during the year.

He also served as an on-course reporter for digital coverage at the 2022 U.S. Open on Peacock and the 2022 PGA Championship on ESPN+. He began “Happy Hour with Smylie” in 2024, his own show where he hosts some of the biggest names in the sport.

As of this report, Scottie Scheffler leads the way at The Open, sitting at -10. Matt Fitzpatrick trails closely behind with a -9, while Brian Harman and Haotong Li each are at -8. Scheffler currently boasts -175 odds to win the event, according to FanDuel.

On3’s Daniel Hager also contributed to this report.