NBC's hand-helds are are wireless, which means, because of the delay involved in digital TV, they have to be analog. That means standard definition rather than high definition. (Yes, you may think you've read this before; this is a rerun.)
CBS is all-HD at The Masters because Augusta National doesn't allow the relay balloon or high tower to mar its skyline (or a blimp, for that matter, which the smart viewer will note NBC had and was in HD. But it was never used for live action shots, just live beauty shots and replays of action, which means no sync worries for cutting back and forth).
The wireless delay dilemma meant NBC had two equipment options:
1. Use standard definition cameras that could shoot in 16:9, thus allowing a fine standard definition picture, only widescreen, but at least sharp.
2. Use standard definition cameras that shoot in the original 4:3, and blow up the middle of the picture to make it fit in widescreen. That yields about a 1930s experimental-era 300-line picture instead of the standard 525 or the 1080 NBC uses in HD.
There is a technical term for this: crud.
The solution: Bury cable all through Sawgrass, a la Augusta National, to allow for an all-HD show.
And order a few miles more cable for Oakmont, NBC's next biggie.