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The commissioner of the PGA Tour has called for an immediate end to the heckling of Bryson DeChambeau.
Speaking ahead of this week’s season-ending Tour Championship, Jay Monahan finally broke his silence on the simmering feud between DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka which has spilled over into the galleries.
At multiple events over the summer, DeChambeau has been singled out for abuse by some fans who have taken to calling him ‘”Brooksie”.
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The most recent incident occurred at the weekend, where the former US Open champion reportedly told a spectator to “get the f**k out” after he was taunted in the immediate aftermath of his BMW Championship playoff defeat at the hands of Patrick Cantlay.
That appears to have been the final straw for fed-up tour officials, who, according to Monahan, have been working on updates to the Fan Code of Conduct since before the COVID lockdown in March 2020.
“By coming to a PGA Tour event, you are expected to contribute to a
welcoming and safe environment by refraining from and reporting any
unsafe, disruptive or harrassing behaviour,” said Monahan.
“Comments or
gestures that undermine the welcoming and inclusive nature of the game
will not be tolerated, nor will any harrassment of players, caddies,
volunteers, officials, staff or other spectators. Fans who breach our
code of conduct are subject to expulsion from the tournament and loss of
their credential or ticket.
“I would ask our fans to take a moment and think about what it means to be a golf fan and to enjoy a PGA Tour tournament.”
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Monahan insisted that the changes to the code of conduct had not been promoted by any one individual or incident but, when asked if calls of ‘Brooksie’ would class as harrassment, he offered an unambiguous ‘yes’.
“The barometer which we are all using is the word respect,” added Monahan. “To me, when you hear ‘Brooksie’ yelled or you hear any expression yelled, the question is that respectful or disrespectful? It has been going on for an extended period of time. To me, at this point, it’s disrespectful and that’s the kind of behaviour that we’re not going to tolerate going forward.”
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