PGA TOUR Cracks Down on Fans Trying to Influence Bets from the Fairway

There has been a significant increase in the number of fan behaviour issues at PGA TOUR golf tournaments in recent years – and tour officials believe that sports betting could be to blame.

Since sports betting was legalised in the United States in 2018, it has slowly increased in popularity as more and more US states have lifted their local ban on wagering.

Generally, punters are unable to influence the outcome of the events they have bet on. However, at golf tournaments, patrons are allowed to line the course as the action unfolds – leading to a rise in the number of people shouting out during a player’s backswing or when they’re standing over a putt… in a bid to put them off.

The PGA TOUR, as of 2027, will clamp down on sports bettors trying to influence the outcome of its events with a new set of rules.

Under the Influence

Rowdy crowd behaviour has long been in evidence at the Ryder Cup, which is the closest that golf truly gets to a partisan team sport.

Other events, such as the Phoenix Open, also actively encourage their patrons to be loud and lively at the signature sixteenth hole at TPC Scottsdale, where as many as 20,000 fans can sit and make themselves heard.

Otherwise, a sense of quiet decorum is preferred – but sports betting, and punters trying to gain an edge for the players they have backed, has made that all the more difficult.

Matt Fitzpatrick, a former US Open champion and Ryder Cup veteran, warned that it’s increasingly becoming a problem – and revealed that it would be ‘very easy to influence a bet’ by putting off the players from the side of the tee box or green.