Unruly Fans are Colliding with Pro Golfers — But Why?

Since last month’s WM Phoenix Open that saw more than one golfer get heated toward unruly fans, we’ve had additional occasions of players taking exception with what they’re hearing in the gallery.

Rickie Fowler had a fan tossed from The Players Championship last week. Then at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook over the weekend, it was the typical silence as Hayden Buckley lined up his approach shot on the par-4 12th. 

Straight to jail. pic.twitter.com/3QRYngym4W

— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) March 23, 2024

The other fans got on the heckler’s case as Buckley stepped off his shot to protest.

However, the distraction didn’t occur during his swing. Buckley was able to regroup and go up and down to save par on the hole. He finished with a 69 on Saturday to stand at -3, but his final round didn’t go well – a 5-over 76 on Sunday left him in 61st on the final leaderboard. 

One respondent to the X social media post above made an interesting point:

“I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more with live betting.”

While it’s unclear what the motives were, it’s worth noting that the last two tournaments – The Players and the Valspar – were held in Florida, which legalized online sports betting last fall.

Cover Image via Golf Digest