Robert MacIntyre during the opening round of the 2023 BMW PGA Championship. | Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
MacIntyre and Bjorn had an interesting day Friday at the BMW Championship, as what Rory McIlroy referred to as the shitshow played out.
Rory McIlroy described the final hour of the second round as a ‘shitshow.’
That term can be applied to other instances at the BMW PGA Championship too.
According to a report from Sports Illustrated, Robert MacIntyre, who will play in the Ryder Cup in two weeks, had to deal with a heckling gambler midway through his round.
“I was getting a bit of stick there coming up 17,” MacIntyre said. “There’s obviously gambling going on in the game of golf nowadays, and some people ride a lot of money on it—and, unfortunately, he lost today.”
The Scotsman said that the bettor had placed a wager on Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick to finish better than he did.
The gambler lost, as MacIntyre shot a 3-under 69 Friday. Rose and Fitzpatrick carded rounds of 71 and 72, respectively.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Robert MacIntyre during the opening round of the 2023 BMW PGA Championship.
Elsewhere on the course, former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn got into a feud with a drunken fan. Little details are known about this incident, but the 52-year-old Dane quieted things quickly.
But as for MacIntyre, live gambling in professional golf has been a hot topic of discussion in recent weeks.
Last month, Max Homa had to deal with a gambler late in the third round at the BMW Championship in Chicago.
“He was cheering and yelling at Chris [Kirk] for missing his putt short,” Homa said after that round. “One of them had $3 for me to make mine, and I got to the back of my backstroke, and he yelled, ‘pull it’ pretty loud, and I made it right in the middle, and then I just started yelling at him, and then Joe [my caddy] yelled at him.”
Players have had to deal with this all season, which Jon Rahm alluded to at the Tour Championship.
But issues with gambling fans extend far beyond the United States. Perhaps the PGA Tour and DP World Tours work together to solve this problem because it will only get worse if not addressed soon.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
