A former PGA Tour Pro wanted CBS -TV company Jim Nantz to jab into Rory McIlroy more after missing his pair of putt on the 18th green who would have won him Masters without needing an endgame.
When McIlroy walked out of the bunker, he had a few meters to save pairs and his green jacket at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday. But his put was back and he missed his 72 hole in the tournament and forced a sudden death play with Justin Rose, lowering a birdie on the same green earlier to finish 11-under.
Of course, McIlroy advanced to Birdie on the 18th in that playoffs, and he was pure feelings on the green, while patrons roared around him as he ended his career Grand Slam.
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Steve Elkington Tees OFF during the 2010 PGA championship on Whistling Straits. (Jeff Hanisch -usa Today Sports)
But the former PGA Tour Pro Steve Elkington was a vocals at X after he heard Nantz simply say, “We are going to an endgame,” when McIlroy tapped in his bogey to fall to 11-under.
“It can be the biggest collapse in golf history & f — Ing CBS says, ‘We have an endgame,'” Elkington wrote at X.
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Elkington, 62-year-old Australian, felt Nantz and the rest of the TV stations had to be more critical of McIlroy at that moment. It could have been an epic collapse for the man who had not only won Masters, but also missed a bigger victory in the last 11 years, including a placement of meltdown in the 2024 US Open.
Elkington continued to criticize McIlroy and said that his approach to No. 18 from 125 meters out is about as easy as it comes for professionals.
“It was a wedge into the right piles on the 18 … a wedge,” he said.
Rory McIlroy has the Masters Championship Trophy at Augusta National Golf Club. (Kyle Terada-Preferred Pictures)
While Elkington was critical, there were many who loved what Nantz and CBS did in these high -voltage moments, enabling the tension to carry the broadcast as McIlroy worked through his tumultuous final round.
When McIlroy buried his Birdie Putt in the playoffs and fell on his knees, Nantz simply said, “Rory has his masterpiece.” From there, almost seven minutes passed without a word from Nantz or anyone else as McIlroy walked away from the green and met his family and team at an emotional party.
McIlroy joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in rare golf history as the only golfers to ever end his career Grand Slam.
Ex-PGA Tour Pro Steve Elkington was critical of Jim Nantz’s call under Rory McIlroy’s Miss the 18 on Masters. (IMagn)
Meanwhile, Elkington was ranked as high as the third in his career and won 10 times on the PGA Tour, including the PGA championship in 1995. His best finish at Augusta was T -3rd in 1993.
