Horschel, Thomas See An Uptick In (Good) Fan Behavior

Or at least, fewer PGA Tour incidents between fans and players. 

After reaching dreadful depths in March, the combination of the Masters and perhaps some awareness that telling players what losers they are is really not cool, has dissipated according to Billy Horschel and Justin Thomas.

From Garry Smits in the Florida Times-Union, writing on the fan behavior issues in past Players and quotes two players who have been subjected to abuse.

“I think some fans are coming to a point where they’re policing themselves,” Horschel said. “I’ve seen that already where a fan will tell another fan, ‘hey, that’s out of line ... you need to stop that.’”

Thomas said he’s surprised that he hasn’t been the target of comments at tournament sites similar to the social media flak he took for having the fan ejected at the Honda Classic.

“It seems to be getting better,” he said. “I haven’t had any issues, which is surprising. I would have thought I would have maybe heard some here or there. I feel like everybody is learning and the fans are getting better. Not that they were bad in the first place. It’s just that you don’t want those couple here or there to ruin it for the rest of them.”

With high temperatures forecast for Friday, a 6:30 pm alcohol sales cut-off and the young stars out, the limits of good behavior will be tested.