Peter Kessler recently called CBS’ mishap during the Masters a “human error”. However, he also didn’t excuse the network by making excuses. And he isn’t the only one holding CBS accountable. In fact, Kevin Kisner unleashed a “what are we doing?” furious attack. And now, amidst the criticism, Jim Nantz, who has been the voice behind several of CBS’ broadcasts since the 1980s, weighed in to defend his team.

On “The Pat McAfee Show”, Nantz said, “It’s live television – we all make mistakes. I’m really proud of our crew. They’re making so many split-second decisions. There are hundreds of people involved over the course of those four days. I just know our crew is the best in the business. Our crew is nominated for an Emmy Award next month. … I just walk away from the Masters with more memories and a lot of pride for what everybody did.”

Well, CBS News was indeed nominated for 16 News & Documentary Emmy Awards. Their newsmagazine, 60 MINUTES, received 10 nominations, while CBS NEWS SUNDAY MORNING earned two, and the CBS EVENING NEWS, CBS News, and CBS Reports earned one each.

But the audience will never forget the time that the coverage failed to catch the approach shots of Rory McIlroy and Cam Young on the 18th hole at Augusta National Golf Club. For over a minute, no one knew for sure whether Rory’s ball was in the woods somewhere or whether he had just lost the green jacket. And there were no explanations from either the pundits or producers in the broadcast booth. That mystery was solved by the official Masters site’s replay footage, which showed his shot curving out from the trees into a bunker short of the green.

However, this was not where the broadcasting difficulties ended. During his third attempt, McIlroy made his way out of the bunker and ended up with a tap-in because his putt fell just short of going in. However, as he was setting up for his last putt for the win, CBS chose to show footage from an angle where only his shoes were visible.

Kevin Kisner, a PGA Tour pro who also works as an NBC Golf analyst, tore the network apart about the broadcast on his podcast.

“They were literally showing (expletive) that I knew happened 10 minutes ago all day long,” Kisner said on Monday’s “Fore Play” podcast. “What are we doing? You have no commercials. Play live shots.”

“Our production team at NBC prides themselves at showing every shot that they possibly can live… And when we don’t, we have to say, ‘a moment ago,’ because we are trying to make the whole movie make sense,” the analyst continued.

And while Peter Kessler, the longtime Golf Channel talent turned host of the Voice of Golf, sided with Nantz’s “we all make mistakes” view, he still didn’t shy away from calling it a “major sc— up”.

“It had to happen in the truck. Somebody didn’t hear something. Somebody didn’t punch the camera the director wanted. That’s my guess,” Kessler says. “It was internal: I didn’t hear you. I didn’t know which one you wanted. Something bordering on confusion at the worst possible time,” Kessler said.

“It was such a major sc— up. They had the easiest tasks left to do. One man putting twice, basically. They didn’t get that right. We couldn’t tell where his ball went on his second shot. We didn’t know the ball in the bunker was his–until he ID’d as his. They should have had a guy out there with a flag. Not seeing him tap in the little putt? That was an F. All you had to do was put a camera in front of the man. They had 400 cameras there.”

However, besides human error, another perspective can be entertained.

Could Augusta have intervened?

It was the 70th anniversary of the Masters being aired on television. And despite being the youngest of the major golf tournaments, it is by far the one that honors tradition most strictly. So, CBS must tread a delicate path each year, balancing Augusta’s history and heritage while trying to experiment with new elements on the airwaves.

“It’s a very delicate balance because honoring tradition of what this tournament represents is very important to them, very important to us,” CBS Sports President and CEO David Berson said. “We’re constantly looking to add things to the Masters that are firsts, that are capitalizing on new technology that’s available, but truly trying to strike that balance that we’re keeping it true to what it’s about.”

Well, everyone knows that the Augusta National Golf Club has a reputation for tightly controlling the Masters coverage. CBS has broadcast the tournament since 1956, but still operates on one-year contracts to maintain Augusta’s authority. That influence was suspected when Haotong Li’s 10 on the par-5 13th received limited airtime. While his struggles through Amen Corner could have made amusing television, some believe the club’s members preferred otherwise, possibly to spare the 30-year-old further embarrassment.

“It certainly wasn’t explained as to why Li was causing this huge delay,” one source said. “Other than maybe Augusta National didn’t want to embarrass the kid. I mean, the guy made a 10. I don’t think Augusta National is in the business of embarrassing their players. There might have been a little bit of, ‘Let’s turn the cameras away.’”

“There’s not a single golf tournament that has more to do with a broadcast than Augusta National and the Masters,” added the source. “They have so much say in the way it’s produced and the way it is shown.”

While there is no concrete evidence of meddling, the practice of selective narration, delayed visuals, and carefully curated moments persists and thus contributes to this belief.