The good news, though, is that there has not been an increase in golf hecklers, but the PGA Tour has been following such incidents intently. For example, a fan had to be walked out of the BMW Championship this Saturday, after he was yelling at Max Homa to “pull it.”

Fans Mindful of Golfers Play, But Hecklers Not So Much

It later transpired that the said fan had a $3 bet riding on Homa to miss the putt. Bizarre as these incidents may seem, the PGA Tour has raised concern that fans may be trying to influence the game too much.

Therefore, it is now down to the organization to protect the integrity, VP of brand communications Laura Neal said in a statement to ESPN, one of the media outlets reporting on the story. Neal told the publication that heckling wasn’t rampant, but that the PGA Tour’s security team was there to make sure that participants had the best possible competitive environment – especially when prize purses can run in the millions of dollars.

Betting on golf has been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has supposedly led to an increase in viewership, with many major American sportsbooks offering exclusive coverage. On the other, it has brought out some unsavory characters although the PGA Tour does not have evidence that more hecklers are attending as already stated.

Homa, too, said that although it was cool to see fans bet and he generally agreed that fans were quiet when golfers were taking a swing. In the cases when someone speaks during a hit, argued Homa, it’s usually quite unintentional, but he said that it “sucked” to have someone doing so on purpose.

Betting and Gambling Interests Pushes Golfers

Although Homa has been tamer in his response to the situation, other golfers have not really taken kindly to the idea of hecklers – no matter what their numbers are. Jon Rahm was amongst the golfers to particularly address this matter.

The fan ejected from the BMW Championship was not alone – with another fan also having to be removed over constant remarks towards the golfers at the time of hitting. Rahm has said that this heckling though is omnipresent and it’s there every single round. This significantly diverges from the PGA Tour and Homa’s stances which are far milder.

The golfer also believes that the PGA Tour has a significant challenge on its hands – trying to prevent people who have gambled on from influencing the game. In the meantime, the organizaiton has also teamed up with US Integrity to bolster integrity efforts across the board.

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