Ian Poulter Gets Fan Tossed At WGC-FedEx

The Majors may be over but the fans that are showing up for the final stretch of the PGA TOUR season are just as rowdy as ever.

There have been many instances of PGA TOUR pros complaining about how they are treated by fans during events and a few have asked the PGA TOUR to address the issue. Nothing concrete has been done to address this problem and that was on display at the WGC-FedEx in Memphis this week where fans were taking particular aim at Ian Poulter.

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Poulter is no stranger to being a target of American fans. He’s been jeered several times over the last five years and even got a fan fired from his job for claiming that he was intentionally psyching Poulter out at the Valspar Championship in 2016. A similar event took place on Thursday with Poulter having a fan ejected for yelling at his shot to hit the bunker on the 18th hole.

@IanJamesPoulter getting heckled in Memphis at @WGCFedEx. Makes you realise how great the Irish crowds were at @TheOpen and @DDFIrishOpen. pic.twitter.com/BNqLdj1OEU

— Doc from GolfCentralDaily (@IAmTheGolfDoc) July 26, 2019

“It is disappointing, to be honest. I get it, I’m an Englishman, I play on the Ryder Cup team, I’m sure I’ve upset a few of these guys from time to time when they’re watching TV,” Poulter told Sky Sports. “But when we’re playing a world-class event like we do week in, week out, and you’ve got guys like that, in a small group and want to feel big in front of their friends and they scream silly things out, it is disappointing.”

Even with the disrespectful fan getting in his way, Poulter still performed pretty well on the hole, making a par save after the fan was ejected. He also had a good round overall, finishing the day at four-under, just four shots off of the lead. But Poulter still has concerns over the fans in general, pointing out that he is especially worried about the 2024 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

From a PGA TOUR perspective, there isn’t much they can do other than possibly limiting alcohol sales that help encourage these fans to get rowdy. Regardless, it looks like something will have to be done before something worse than having fans ejected takes place on the course.