PGA Tour fan ejected by security after arguing with player midway through Cognizant Classic
Billy Horschel was involved in a heated verbal spat with a fan midway through the Cognizant Classic.
The explosive moment came on the par-3 15th hole at the PGA National Resort when the US golfer missed the green with his tee shot and ended up in the rough near the grandstands
Lining up a routine chip onto the green, Horschel massively overhit his wedge and sent the ball straight into the water.
Causing him to drop a shot on, the PGA star then had salt rubbed in his wounds when a spectator in the grandstand took aim at him.
Though it wasn’t clear what exactly was said, it appears the fan made reference to Horschel’s recent comments on the PGA National.
On Thursday, the 39-year-old had addressed the venue’s decision to overseed the course – which came despite the PGA Tour‘s opposition – and insisted the final decision should rest with the course.
While his comments were in defence of the course, Horschel’s critic in the stands appeared to have either misunderstood or ignored this.
‘Who said that?’
Unhappy with the heckler, Horschel turned to the grandstand to confront them while digging through his bag for another ball.
He fired at the stands: “Who said that?
“I mean, I guess you guys gotta make you feel good about yourself with a comment like that, don’t you?”
The spectator appeared to respond by accusing Horschel of bad-mouthing the course, which only angered him more.
“Complaints about your course?” replied Horschel, who then challenged the fan to double check his previous comments.
He continued: “I said it’s been pretty good, my man. Maybe you should read the entire comments.”
Security could be overheard telling the heckler that one more comment would get them kicked out.
Looking to complete the hole, Horschel asked: “Can I go back to my shot now?” before heading back to the drop zone.
Things didn’t get much better after the altercation, with Horschel eventually posting a triple bogey 6 on the hole.
He rounded the second day off with a par on the 16th, before bogeys on holes 17 and 18 to shoot 73, allowing him to make the cut at level par.
Fan thrown out over Horschel bust-up
Discussing the incident after finishing his round, Horschel revealed the spectator was ultimately removed from the grounds over it.
Giving his version of events, the US star said: “The guy said a couple more things and said I was bad-mouthing the golf course, and that couldn’t be the furthest from the truth.
“I’ve praised this golf course for many, many years. If I didn’t like this golf course, I wouldn’t come here and play every year.
“He had a few words to say. He wanted to share what his thoughts were, and I just said to him: ‘Read the entire quotes from the last couple years’.”
Insisting he had no issue with the Florida course, Horschel continued: “I’ve enjoyed this golf course.
“When it’s benign, it’s gettable. When it’s the way it is the last two days with the wind blowing, it’s a challenge.
“I wanted to make sure I informed him on that. I said: ‘Maybe you should be more informed of the situation’, and that was it.
“I walked back to the drop area, I hit a shot and walked off with a 6. There was no more, nothing said.”
While Horschel made no request for the spectator to be punished over their conduct, he was soon informed by security that the fan had been ejected shortly after this.
The former world no.11 revealed: “The officers came up to me after I walked off 16 and said: ‘We kicked him out’, and I said: ‘I didn’t ask for him to be kicked out’.
“They said: ‘No, I guess he’s been saying some other stuff throughout the day’, and they proceeded to just escort him out of here.”
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