NBC Jams Mastercard Down Viewers Throats During Arnold Palmer Invitational & Fans Had Jokes

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The PGA Tour put on one heck of a tournament this weekend. The Arnold Palmer Invitational saw several big name players like Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth battling for the title late into the final round.

Ultimately, Kurt Kitayama hoisted the trophy after posting a 9-under for the week. He beat McIlroy and English by one shot. Spieth and Scheffler tied for fourth along with Patrick Cantlay and Tyrell Hatton.

Kitayama hit a dramatic putt that nearly went in to win the tournament with a long birdie. Regardless, the tap-in par was enough to get the job done.

Kurt Kitayama celebrates with the trophy after winning the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, shown on NBC.

Kurt Kitayama celebrates with the trophy after winning the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, shown on NBC. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

NBC goes overboard with Mastercard promotion during Arnold Palmer Invitational

But the real story of NBC's broadcast might have been the crazy Mastercard promotional material. Look, these tournaments and networks all have major sponsors.

There's nothing wrong with promoting the main sponsor -- surely, Mastercard paid a lot of money for top billing.

However, what we saw on Sunday was a bit ... much. It included an interview of Mastercard executive during some of the most tense moments of the entire tournament.

Now, to be fair, these interviews are common. I watch golf nearly every week and the title sponsor always gets some airtime in the form of a fluffy interview that explains what that company is doing to save the world from certain doom.

But to air this interview when they did was a travesty. Not only that, but the person they chose to interview (Cheryl Guerin, Executive Vice President -- Global Brand Strategy & Innovation of Mastercard) was really bad at it.

It's not her fault, she's not used to doing live TV interviews. She stumbled through nearly the entire thing, dragging it out longer and cutting away from the golf.

Yeah, the golf. The thing we tuned in for in the first place.

People on Twitter were not happy about it. And they let everyone know.

Golf is exploding in popularity, the PGA created these designated events to help fend off a challenge from LIV Golf, and the game has never been better.

But the TV product has arguably never been worse.

Let's work on that, PGA, instead of worrying about LIV golfers playing majors.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.