Rory McIlroy, seen here on Day 1 of The Players, had an incident with a fan before the tournament started. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
So here’s the thing about heckling golfers, as opposed to heckling baseball or football players: Golfers are a whole lot closer to you, they can very clearly hear you, and if you say something stupid or provocative, well, you might just find out the hard way that there are consequences for your mouthiness.
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Luke Potter, a 20-year-old junior player for the University of Texas golf team, found out the hard way that maybe trashing one of the world’s greatest golfers by bringing up one of his lowest moments isn’t the wisest idea. On Tuesday at the Players, after Rory McIlroy flared a shot wide into the water at the 18th hole, Potter called out, “Just like the 2011 Masters!” That, you may recall, is where McIlroy coughed up the lead on the 10th hole on Sunday; he hasn’t won in Augusta since then.
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Hearing the taunt, McIlroy walked over to Potter and a teammate, took the teammate’s phone, spun and walked away:
Shortly afterward, Potter and his teammate were escorted off the grounds of TPC Sawgrass, though the phone was eventually returned. But the incident went viral, with millions of views on X, making Potter a case study in overstepping one’s bounds at a golf tournament.
Here’s the thing: Potter is a golfer himself, and a very good one. He and his Texas teammates had just won The Hayt College Tournament, a 54-hole event held nearby on Monday. Texas rallied from a 12-stroke deficit to Alabama to win. More than that, Potter himself won the tournament’s individual title with a final-round 69.
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“He’s got a hole in his heart,” Texas coach John Fields told Golf.com. “He had no idea that what was coming out of his mouth was going to result in this fashion.”
Fields indicated that Potter has written letters of apology to several people: McIlroy; PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan; Brendan von Doehren, the director of PGA Tour University; and Scott Schroeder, men’s golf coach at the University of North Florida. Fields would not disclose to Golf.com whether Potter was facing any disciplinary action.
McIlroy, after posting a round of 67 that left him just one stroke off the lead Thursday, declined to answer any questions about the incident.
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“Can I ask you about the shenanigans with the kid?” a reporter ventured.
“No,” McIlroy replied, “you can’t.”
“Why not?” the reporter continued.
“Because I don’t want you to,” McIlroy said laughing.
“The whole thing was made stranger by the fact that it wasn’t a civilian, that it was a player,” the reporter continued. “Did you know that, and did it surprise you when you learned that?”
“I’m really happy that I shot 67 today,” McIlroy replied, effectively ending the line of questioning.
McIlroy is facing all kinds of flak from the gallery these days; last month at the Genesis Invitational, he missed a short putt, and someone shouted, “Blame your caddy!” “Shut the f*** up,” McIlroy replied.
Potter may or may not have a future as a professional; he’s currently the 60th-ranked amateur in the world. But if he does make it to the pros, he’ll want to have McIlroy as an ally … and he probably won’t want to hear about his mistakes from the gallery, either.