The Arnold Palmer Invitational is in the bag for another year with Russell Henley winning out in dramatic fashion but the PGA Tour are still coming under fire from some golf fans around the world.
Henley managed to reel in Collin Morikawa with a sensational final round and in the end, saw off his fellow American by just a single shot.
It means Henley has now won five times on TOUR while Morikawa’s long wait for a win continues.
- READ MORE: Keegan Bradley makes history during final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill
However, while the event itself at Bay Hill was excellent with some fine golf played in tough conditions, the powers that be once again found themselves under fire.
In fact, the anger was directed towards the TOUR and the TV companies when it came to the biggest moment in the tournament from Henley.
Golf fans slam PGA Tour and TV coverage again as Russell Henley reels in Collin Morikawa at Bay Hill
With Morikawa seemingly cruising to a win by a shot or two, the entire complexion of the tournament changed on the 16th when Henley chipped in from the rough for a dramatic eagle.
Morikawa could only make his par and from there, Henley held on to the one shot lead to win.
However, in a moment of major fluffed lines for the TV coverage, they actually cut away to an ad break as Henley chipped in, meaning plenty of the American audience missed out on the shot.
Golf journalist Kyle Porter pointed out the error in the first place.
And from there, the usual social media pile on ensued.
One fan labelled the cut away as ‘horrendous’ for the viewer, while another tried to defend them but was lost for words.
“As a former tv production guy, I was thinking about defending it a bit, but it really was just bad to miss the shot that won the tournament. Especially with so many ripping on PGAT coverage from the networks, and with NBC promoting the idea of less commercials this week. Oof.”
Another fan claimed the coverage was ‘ruined’ by them missing Henley’s moment.
“NBC really ruined the final round dramatics of the API.”
While another couldn’t help but laugh at what happened.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA Henley holing out for eagle to take the lead on the 70th hole and they weren’t back from commercial in time for the shot”
Indeed, it seemed it was broadcaster NBC getting the brunt of the anger.
“Mental how much better of a watching experience it is when it’s on CBS, NBC really need to start taking lessons from them”
While finally, one fan thought he was effectively being deceived in real time.
“I was wondering if my eyes were lying to me. The chip was going in as my feed started. What a clown show”
With the PGA Tour coming under so much scrutiny for so many things this year, the last thing they need is the TV coverage to be sub-par in crucial moments.
Someone, somewhere, then, will have some big questions to answer here.
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