NBC Apologizes for Omitting 'Under God' From Pledge During U.S. Open Broadcast

BETHESDA, Md. -- NBC issued an on-air apology Sunday for omitting the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance during its coverage of golf's U.S. Open.

The words were edited out of a clip of children reciting the oath -- a move immediately noted by viewers, who took to Twitter and various blogs to voice their anger, the Huffington Post reported.

In a statement during the broadcast, NBC commentator Dan Hicks said, "We began our coverage of this final round just about three hours ago and when we did it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open Championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation's capital for the third time.

"Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone and we'd like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it."

The words "under God" were not in the original pledge from 1892 and were not added until 1954.

While this was going on, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy romped to an eight-shot win to claim his first major title with a record-low 72-hole score of 16-under par at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.