One of the big talking points following The Players Championship this past week was the behaviour of the crowd as Matthew Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young reached the final stages of their round at TPC Sawgrass.
As the sun began to set in Florida, it started to become apparent that either Fitzpatrick or Young would win the PGA Tour’s biggest event.
The crowd certainly made their feelings clear on who they wanted to win. There was a Ryder Cup feel to the event as chants of USA could be heard as Young went on to secure the biggest victory of his career.
Kevin Kisner reacts to the atmosphere on Sunday at The Players Championship
That saw a section of the spectators view Fitzpatrick as the pantomime villain. There was some booing in what was an electric conclusion to The Players Championship.
Fitzpatrick insisted that the reception was nowhere near as intense as it had been at the Ryder Cup last September, when the crowd behaviour certainly crossed the line.
Nevertheless, it was a unique environment for a PGA Tour event. It is not often that fans make it very clear who they are rooting against. But Fitzpatrick would have certainly taken the air out of the occasion had he edged out Young.
And speaking on the Fore Play Podcast, Kevin Kisner insisted that he was taken aback by the crowd.
“It shocked the heck out of me to be honest. I didn’t see it coming, I guess. The last big tournament we had was the Ryder Cup, and a lot of golf fans are probably like, ‘damn, I hate that guy’ suddenly. ‘I remember him from kicking our a– at Bethpage, I don’t want him to win’. But when I was sitting up there hearing that, I was like, dude, what are they doing? This isn’t USA versus England or something,” he said.
“I don’t know. It just threw me off for a minute. But I’m all in on all that, we’re in the USA, let’s pull for our guys, let’s just not have any personal attacks towards the other guys. Fitz is one of the best players in the world, and one of the coolest guys on tour, great guy, do anything for you. So as long as we’re not going after him personally, you can talk all the s— you want. As soon as you cross that line and say something about me, my family or something, I’m coming for you. As long as people respect that, go after it, cheer all you want.”
The PGA Tour have their blueprint for the future following the scenes at TPC Sawgrass
As long as fans do not attempt to put a player off when they are preparing to hit their shot, and obviously do not get personal with the insults, the PGA Tour should be delighted with how The Players concluded.
Young and Fitzpatrick are big names. The latter is a major champion. However, they are arguably not players who move the needle when it comes to capturing very casual fans.
So the fact that Sunday’s finale captured the imagination of the spectators is an extremely encouraging sign as Brian Rolapp looks to maximise the potential of the tour.
Obviously, it is not going to be easy to make it a regular occurrence. However, the final round showed the blueprint, with two outstanding players battling it out on an iconic golf course.
