Billy Horschel reacted in an infuriated manner to the remarks of fans at the TPC Scottsdale and felt that the patrons were disrespectful to the players. The golfer described his reason for shouting at the crowd. During the WM Phoenix Open, the frosty and muddy weather caused chaos at the game and hence fans also enjoyed drinking throughout the time.
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Some of the patrons behaved unusually and this instance bothered the golfers. For example, Zach Johnson was passed a personal comment and as a result, he said, “just shut up!”. Billy was caught on camera reacting aggressively to the comments from the gallery thrown at Nicolo Galletti. He said,
“Buddy, when he’s over the shot, shut the hell up! He’s trying to hit a damn golf shot here, it’s our f*****g job!”
After the completion of the game, Billy explained the reason behind his behavior.
Billy Horschel Describes The Reason Behind His Frustration At The WM Phoenix Open
He explained what happened on Saturday.
“We’d just started our second round, we’re on the 11th hole and [Galletti] is over his second shot. We had told some fans over there to be quiet as he was about to hit. There were three or four guys over there that continued to talk and say some things.”
“I was displeased about the level of respect they were showing”
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Added to that, he continued,
“They talked very loudly when he was over his shot, and I just feel like there was a loss of respect there. The guy is trying to play his shot, he’s trying to do his job. It’s the third day of the tournament and we hear a lot of different things.”
Billy explained that he reacted in a way to assert that a guy was doing his job and such behavior isn’t fitting towards any golfer. Although Billy enjoyed the madness of the crowd, he also stated how the limit is crossing with time.
“Has this tournament crossed the line? Yeah, I think the last couple of years have been a little much. I think it has just got a little bit out of control. I just go back to the respect factor of it for what we’re trying to do in ours jobs”.
He also added how fans left comments regarding golfers dropping out if they could not take the wildness of the event. Another PGAT golfer, Byeong Hun An, also called out the patrons’ behavior as a ‘sh*t show’. The situation at the event worsened so much that gates were closed to restrict fans and food and alcohol sales were stopped. Added to that, fights took place and a fan fell off from at Hole 16. Thus, if the management doesn’t work on these aspects, the event might close down permanently.
