Robert MacIntyre Heckled By Bettor During Second Round at BMW PGA Championship
SURREY, England — The marriage of gambling and professional golf has been relatively cohesive, but betting partisanship within the galleries continues to rear its ugly head.
In Friday’s second round of the BMW PGA Championship, Robert MacIntyre was approached on the course by a bettor, who had bet that both Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose, his playing competitors, would finish ahead of the man from Oban, Scotland.
“He told me the amount he had riding on it,” MacIntyre said.
Robert MacIntyre was heckled by a sports gambler on Friday at the BMW PGA Championship.
USA Today
“I actually talked about that to someone a few weeks ago, it might even have been Jon [Rahm] about the heckling on the PGA Tour.”
MacIntyre was so concerned that the individual might do something untoward that he told his caddie Greg Milne to be alert, as the fan could say or do almost anything.
The DP World Tour did not respond to SI's request for comment on the incident.
A few weeks ago, Max Homa dealt with an unruly fan in the third round of the BMW Championship. The fan cheered and yelled when Chris Kirk, who was playing with Homa, missed his putt short.
Then the focus turned to Homa.
“One of them had $3 for me to make mine, and I got to the back of my back stroke, and he yelled, "pull it" pretty loud, and I made it right in the middle, and then I just started yelling at him, and then Joe yelled at him,” Homa said. “I love that people can gamble on golf, but that is the one thing I'm worried about. He didn't care that — I don't know what he had to lose. He got kicked out probably, and we were the last group.”
After his round Homa expressed concern about what these types of people can do and how they could eventually affect the outcome.
“It's just always something that's on your mind. It's on us to stay focused or whatever, but it's just annoying when it happens,” Homa said. “It just sucks when it's incredibly intentional.”
In Friday's MacIntyre saga, the bettor lost as the McIntyre shot 69 while Fitzpatrick recorded a 72 and Rose 71.