PGA Tour Responds To Garcia Heckling Concerns

I've noticed a greater tolerance of loud and rude types at PGA Tour events and the conspiracy theorist in me chalks it up to fear of upsetting the only people who matter (18-34 y.o.'s). Hopefully I'm wrong. And while it's part of the fun at Scottsdale and good times are not to be discouraged in the appropriate places, there is a concern with too many drunks getting too close to the action. Because as we saw at The Players, where the group behind the 17th tee desperately needed to be coralled, folks worldwide noticed.

The Guardian's Ewan Murray followed up with the PGA Tour and a statement was issued to clear the air, preventing an international incident. For now.

“If players were subjected to inappropriate comments and heckling during their rounds at The Players, that behaviour is completely contrary to our goal. Over the last several years, we doubled uniform police, significantly increased our private security presence and hired more senior officers to help with crowd control.

“We will continue to evaluate ways in which we can be more diligent in reducing any distraction to players and ensuring our no-tolerance policy is implemented. Fans who act inappropriately and affect the tournament experience with disrespectful behaviour will be ejected immediately.

“The Players 2015 was one for the record books and we are dedicated to ensuring a few poorly behaved fans do not impact the competition or the experience for our players and fans.”