SI

Smylie Kaufman Apologizes for Dropping F-Bomb on British Open Broadcast

The Golf Channel/NBC on-course reporter had a NSFW reaction to a headphone blunder during Round 2 of the British Open.

Max Schreiber

NBC Sports on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman was caught on a hot microphone Friday at Royal Portrush.
NBC Sports on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman was caught on a hot microphone Friday at Royal Portrush. / Michael Reaves/Getty Images

While watching the second round of the British Open, people’s ears likely perked up as the USA Network broadcast showed Jon Rahm line up a birdie putt on the 14th hole. 

“I can understand why this is one of the more difficult holes today,” on-course reporter Smylie Kaufman said. “This hole location …”

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Then suddenly came a long pause. 

“What the f---,” Kaufman could be heard saying.

Warning, the clip below has the incriminating word:

A few minutes later, Mike Tirico explained and apologized on air for what occurred. 

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

After the second round concluded, Kaufman took to social media to apologize. 

“Well, I guess there's a first for everything,” the 33-year-old said. “First off, I want to apologize for the audio blunder that happened today, to me on the [14th] 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 look forward to a great weekend.”

For anyone with on-air aspirations, remember, the mic is always hot.

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Max Schreiber
MAX SCHREIBER

Max Schreiber is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, covering golf. Before joining SI in October 2024, the Mahwah, N.J., native, worked as an associate editor for the Golf Channel and wrote for RyderCup.com and FanSided. He is a multiplatform producer for Newsday and has a bachelor's in communications and journalism from Quinnipiac University. In his free time, you can find him doing anything regarding the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Islanders.

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