After missing a birdie putt at the BMW Championship on Sunday that brought an end to one of the most memorable playoffs the PGA Tour has seen recently, Bryson DeChambeau, like he was in a Southwest Airlines commercial, just wanted to get away.
Unfortunately for the 27-year-old, his afternoon wasn’t quite over.
ESPN senior writer Kevin Van Valkenburg described what happened as DeChambeau walked away from the green near the 18th hole at Caves Valley Golf Club to get into the clubhouse and licks his wounds.
“Halfway up the hill, something happened that made me feel like we’ve arrived at a miserable place in the never-ending circus that is DeChambeau. A patron waited until DeChambeau had walked by, but was not out of earshot, then sneered from over the rope line, ‘Great job, Brooksie!’ DeChambeau spun around in a rage and began briefly walking in his direction. ‘You know what? Get the f-ck out!’ DeChambeau yelled. He had rage in his eyes.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is apparently worried about that rage boiling over and leading to an ugly incident because he announced on Tuesday that fans attending tournaments will risk expulsion if they yell “Brooksie” toward DeChambeau.
“By coming to a PGA Tour event, you’re expected to contribute to a welcoming and safe environment by refraining from and reporting any unsafe, disruptive or harassing behavior,” Monahan said. “Comments or gestures that undermine the inclusive and welcoming nature of the game will not be tolerated, nor will any harassment 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.”
According to Monahan, yelling “Brooksie” — which DeChambeau’s rival Brooks Koepka has encouraged his supporters to do — is disrespectful and worthy of an ejection.
“The barometer that we are all using is the word ‘respect’ and to me, when you hear ‘Brooksie’ yelled or you hear any expression yelled, the question is, is that respectful or disrespectful? That has been going on for an extended period of time. To me, at this point, it’s disrespectful and that’s kind of behavior that we’re not going to tolerate going forward.”
While it’s perfectly fine and understandable for Monahan to protect DeChambeau and the rest of the players on the Tour, it’s a little disappointing the sport is putting a policy in place that will ultimately detract from one of the only storylines that’s currently keeping it interesting, the ongoing feud between DeChambeau and Koepka. (Which is probably a fake feud.)
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