{"id":703734,"date":"2026-06-14T15:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T15:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703734\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T15:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T15:07:10","slug":"golf-tournaments-blighted-by-rise-in-drunken-fans-and-heckling-making-it-worse-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703734\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf tournaments blighted by rise in drunken fans and heckling, making it worse for everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Rory McIlroy stood on the tee at Bethpage Black last September, trying to focus<\/a> on the biggest team event in golf, thousands of fans packed around him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some cheered.\u00a0Many more jeered.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier, the first tee MC, Heather McMahan, had led a chant of \u2018F\u2014k Off, Rory\u2019 on the public address system.<\/a><\/p>\n

Later, a cup of beer was hurled<\/a> in the direction of McIlroy\u2019s wife, Erica.<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy of Team Europe yells to the crowd as he walks off the 17th hole green during the Ryder Cup last September, where he was badly heckled. Getty Images<\/p>\n

By the end of the Ryder Cup, the world number two ranked golfer was being escorted around the course by a small army of security guards and police officers, teammate Shane Lowry had confronted a spectator who mocked his weight and Europe\u2019s victory had been overshadowed by a question nobody in golf could ignore: when did the fans become part of the problem?<\/p>\n

This week, as the US Open returns to Shinnecock Hills in Southampton<\/a>, the spotlight will once again shine on the world\u2019s best golfers. But just as intriguing as the battle for the trophy and first prize of $4.5 million is what happens beyond the ropes, where golf is grappling with a growing epidemic of heckling, abuse and alcohol-fueled disorder that threatens to drag the once genteel sport <\/a>in a direction it has never wanted to go.<\/p>\n

World number two ranked McIlroy and teammate Tommy Fleetwood had a security escort for some of their time on the course in Farmingdale. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Golf has alwayshad the occasional idiot trying to make a name for themselves but usually it\u2019s been little more than a poorly-timed \u2018Get in the hole!\u2019 heckle or \u2014 in the unusual case of Tiger Woods at the 2011\u00a0Frys.com<\/a>\u00a0Open in San Martin, Calif., someone running on to the green and throwing a hot dog at him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But things have taken a turn for the worse in recent years.<\/p>\n

Now, instead of polite applause and respect for the game, there\u2019s an increasingly toxic atmosphere<\/a> at some pro golf tournaments and those lame heckles aimed at players have become deeply personal and hugely offensive.<\/p>\n

Rowdy fans in colourful dress and costumes have become much more of a fixture at golf tournaments in recent years. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Jonathan Yarwood is one of the world\u2019s top golf coaches and worked with both 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell and Nelly Korda, the most dominant player in the women\u2019s game. He believes there has been a discernible shift in the way crowds behave and what it\u2019s doing to the players. \u201cIt really can affect players, but it depends on everything from how they are playing, how close the fan is and, obviously, what is said,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost players will try and ignore it or laugh it off, but it\u2019s crossing a line too often now and the players are human, just like me and you, and trying to do a very difficult job in the public glare.\u201d<\/p>\n

That line was certainly crossed at the last Ryder Cup, where the biggest talking point wasn\u2019t Europe\u2019s thrilling victory over the United States but the conduct of the home fans and the controversy they left in their wake.<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans pouring beer on themselves at the 16th hole of the notoriously raucous Waste Management Open in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2024. PGA TOUR<\/p>\n

And now, nine months later, golf\u2019s spotlight returns to New York \u2013 and nobody quite knows what to expect. Ask anyone\u00a0in golf where the most raucous fans are and they will probably say New York.<\/p>\n

It is here where most tournaments cease to be the staid and polite events you might typically witness elsewhere. Instead, the beers start flowing, the noise becomes amplified and etiquette all too often goes out of the window.<\/p>\n

One veteran Tour caddie, who has worked on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, LIV Golf and the Ryder Cup says the atmosphere at some events has changed beyond recognition, especially since COVID-19. \u201cThere seems to a younger generation since 2020,\u201d he tells The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt big events, especially on the old European Tour, it used to be full of 40-70 year olds, but now there are way more 20-30 year olds turning up and that, in itself, brings new problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Specifically, problems with drinking.<\/p>\n

A fan dressed in costume as William Wallace from the movie \u201cBraveheart\u201d was tackled by police and apprehended after running on the 11th hole during the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2024. Getty Images<\/p>\n

A day at the golf can mean up to 12 hours walking around the golf course and if you\u2019re drinking alcohol all day, it\u2019s going to take effect.<\/p>\n

Outside of New York, there\u2019s the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale AZ, a PGA Tour where rowdiness isn\u2019t seen as just acceptable, but positively encouraged.<\/p>\n

Nicknamed \u2018The People\u2019s Open\u2019, it\u2019s known as the most raucous of all pro golf events. Most of the boozy action takes place at the short 16th hole where thousands of fans surround the green, shouting and heckling and where, in the event of a hole in one, they all throw their beers on to the putting surface.<\/p>\n

The unruly fan was led off the green, but its unclear what happened to him afterward. Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 2024 tournament organizers had to temporarily halt the sale of alcohol just to try and keep a lid on matters. \u201cI coached a player at the Waste Management a couple years ago and simply could not believe what people did and said there \u2014 and it was all alcohol-fueled,\u201d confirmed Yarwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a total s\u2014tshow but I guess the only answer is to serve less alcohol, have more gallery police and a genuine zero tolerance policy to anyone who steps out of line.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not the only new problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, social media and the ceaseless clamor for content, allied to drinking, has seen a dangerous new trend emerge. \u201cYou know, everyone suddenly thinks it\u2019s great idea to video themselves shouting abuse and filming it on their phones to show to their pals later,\u201d says the Tour caddie.<\/p>\n

Fans at the 2025 Ryder Cup made more of an impression with their loutish behavior than the actual competition. PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Golf industry pros say they\u2019ve noticed the age of fans changing from 40-70-year-olds to lots more people under 30. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at The Ryder Cup at Bethpage \u2014\u00a0that was a disgrace. You have to think that mobile phones should be banned like at the Masters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat way, there would be way less bull\u2014t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yarwood agrees, adding: \u201cModern fan behavior is indicative of society to some extent. Everyone has a voice and wants to be heard, but mainly on social media. But then there\u2019s some people who take that literally and into the real world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[But] Contrary to social media, when the person expresses something in real life there are often real-life consequences, like being kicked out, which must come as a shock to certain generations used to hiding behind keyboards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Golf coach Jonathan Yarwood says social media is another factor which he feels is encouraging people to disrupt golf tournaments. Jonathan Yarwood \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

At the 2025 Ryder Cup a man was arrested for allegedly stealing a golf cart. A year earlier, a fan dressed as William Wallace from movie \u201cBraveheart\u201d was escorted off the green by police after he ran onto the 11th hole.<\/p>\n

Nick Price, former world number one and three-time major winner, thinks there\u2019s also something else at play \u2013\u00a0the explosion of sports gambling. \u201cI wonder who puts these people up to it and what is really at stake?\u201d He asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s to say the fans who heckled Rory and his wife at the Ryder Cup last year were paid by some person to go and disrupt and distract him on the course?\u201d<\/p>\n

The US Open returns to Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, teeing off on June 15. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Masters, held at Augusta National each April, remains the benchmark of how to keep spectators in check.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a private event held on private land, it rules its competition with a rod of iron where even the slightest infringement of its myriad rules can mean instant expulsion and a lifetime ban from ever returning.<\/p>\n

It helps, of course, that crowd numbers are strictly limited and demand for tickets always exceeds supply, meaning those lucky few in attendance are always likely to be on their best behavior, but it still offers the rest of golf a chance to see how it could be done.<\/p>\n

Price says other tournaments should follow suit. \u201cThere is an easy solution to all of this behavior,\u201d he tells The Post. \u201cThose fans who are unruly and being just downright rude should have their tickets pulled immediately and escorted off the property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The players themselves can also celebrate, such as McIlroy seen here being doused with champagne. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Shane Lowry of Ireland and his caddie Darren Reynolds at the first round of the 2026 Masters tournament. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt what they do at Augusta \u2013\u00a0and it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having a \u2018Fan Code of Conduct\u2019 is one thing. Enforcing it, however, is another entirely.<\/p>\n

After all, last year\u2019s Ryder Cup had one too, demanding spectators \u201cavoid heckling or taunting\u201d with \u201cno abusive, obscene, discriminatory, or disruptive behavior\u201d and encouraging \u201cresponsible alcohol use,\u201d and look how that turned out.<\/p>\n

For generations, golf fans knew the deal; remain silent during the swings, respect the players and remember they were there to watch the show, not become part of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet somewhere along the way, that contract has frayed.<\/a><\/p>\n

The USGA insists this week\u2019s championship will be played in front of passionate but respectful crowds, and Shinnecock\u2019s long history suggests it should be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And as the game\u2019s elite touch down on Long Island once more, the hope is that Shinnecock delivers what it does best \u2014 the sternest test in pro golf and a truly deserving winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But if the defining sound of the week ends up being abuse from the galleries instead of roars for great golf shots, the championship won\u2019t just be remembered for who lifted the trophy \u2014 but for a game still struggling to keep control of its own crowd.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Rory McIlroy stood on the tee at Bethpage Black last September, trying to focus on the biggest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[121597,427,6082,11383,36569,99,1625,6897,23234,19048],"class_list":["post-703734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-drunk","tag-golf","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-ryder-cup","tag-southampton","tag-sports","tag-sports-entertainment","tag-tiger-woods","tag-us-open-golf","tag-waste-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}