The final round of the 2024 U.S. Open on Sunday featured some thrilling action down the stretch with big names like Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard. However, if you were living in Cleveland, you didn’t have the best viewing experience of the biggest shot of the tournament.
DeChambeau took a one-stroke lead going into the 18th hole after McIlroy bogeyed the hole just moments before.
It looked like DeChambeau may follow in his footsteps and that viewers may potentially have a playoff on their hands after DeChambeau hit his first shot into the native area and his second into a fairway bunker.
Instead, DeChambeau hit an unbelievable shot out of the bunker for his third shot, sticking it to about four feet to set up a par putt to win the tournament.
Bryson DeChambeau with one of the best bunker shots of his career on the 18th to set up a par putt to win the U.S. Open! pic.twitter.com/FYSjUXHreB
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 16, 2024
Most watching the event got a perfect angle of the putt from DeChambeau, which he ended up making to claim his second career U.S. Open victory.
But those watching the event in Cleveland on WKYC, the NBC affiliate in Cleveland, were unfortunately struck with an “excessive heat” warning on the bottom of their screens while watching, which actually blocked the hole on the broadcast.
Anthony Lima, a radio host on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, shared his experience of the moment on social media, which shows DeChambeau hitting the putt and then having the ball completely disappear on his screen due to the heat warning at the bottom.
Did it go in? pic.twitter.com/IbUtFyDgiN
— Anthony Lima (@SportsBoyTony) June 16, 2024
In comparison, this is how the moment looked for most others watching across the country, via the U.S. Open social media page on X, formerly known as Twitter.
https://twitter.com/thecomeback/status/1802472693784105291
It’s obviously understandable for stations to run these kinds of warnings in order to keep those in the area safe from extreme weather conditions. But you couldn’t have chosen a much worse time to put the warning up on the screen…
If they had waited just ten seconds to put the warning up once DeChambeau started to celebrate, viewers would have been able to see the truly special moment.
Instead, the viewing experience was pretty much ruined for those in the area, which is truly a shame considering just how entertaining the battle between DeChambeau and McIlroy was throughout the day.
