PGA Tour Overhauls Spectator Conduct Rules Over Sports Betting Fears

Three-time golf major champion Jordan Spieth once said that ‘I don't know of another sport that you could impact as a fan like you can golf.’

And when he says ‘influence’, Spieth means in a negative way by shouting out on a player’s backswing or in the middle of their putting stroke.

Those concerns have intensified with the rise in popularity of sports betting apps and prediction markets, which means that spectators walking the course of a tournament now have a financial incentive to ‘influence’ the outcome.

The PGA Tour, however, is fighting back. They are introducing new fan conduct rules in a bid to stop punters from impacting a player’s chance of lifting the trophy at the culmination of the latest event.

Every Shot Matters

Golf continues to be a popular sport for betting purposes, with markets for individual match-ups and 3-balls alongside the traditional tournament winner category.

The result is that every shot counts for punters… hence why the number of incidents in which spectators have been ejected from the course for unruly behaviour have increased.

The players themselves have noticed the change, too. Matt Fitzpatrick, the former US Open champion who has personally experienced the most raucous atmosphere in golf at the Ryder Cup, has revealed that there aren’t many professionals left that haven’t received abuse online from a disgruntled punter that has lost money.

“For me, it's definitely becoming a problem and the issue is, particularly in golf, it would be very easy to influence a bet, whether it's shouting on someone's backswing, shouting on a putting stroke,” Fitzpatrick commented.

Fan Behaviour at the US Open

A notable incident occurred during the final round of the US Open in June, where Wyndham Clark held a comfortable lead heading into the final 18 holes. But with many bookmakers offering the ‘field vs Clark’ type markets, the 32-year-old was subject to a torrent of abuse and ill-timed shouts during his backswing.

A number of spectators were ejected from the golf course, with shouts of ‘don’t choke Wyndham’ commonly heard throughout the round. Audible cheers could be heard around the host venue, Shinnecock Hills, when Clark hit his ball into a bunker or missed a putt.

Spieth believes he knows the reason why. “I do think that betting in golf is something that's going to have to be tackled here soon, because I don't know how much of, say, the Wyndham scenario was the fact that it was enticing to bet the field versus Wyndham on Sunday in a legalized betting state".

Fan Conduct Rule Changes

The PGA Tour has confirmed that they will be toughening their rules on spectator conduct moving forwards.

Previously, their fan code of conduct asked patrons to:

• Avoid language, gestures and behaviour that may disrupt competition and the environment.
• Be considerate of other fans and spectate while keeping a proper distance from athletes.

With those guidelines no longer seeming to have the desired effect, the PGA Tour will instead employ extra security at their events as of 2027.

Volunteers will also be trained to spot spectators that are exhibiting the potential for problematic behaviour, before reporting those individuals to security.

The PGA Tour’s senior VP of tournament administration, Andy Levinson, said: “We are concerned about fans interacting with our players in a negative manner, and certainly the potential for fans to try to impact the competition in some way.”

He has revealed the tour will use purpose-built tracking software on social media channels to identify those fans that are commenting on players in a betting context.

“At the same time, if you’ve got 10,000 people standing around a green and somebody decides to blurt something out, those things are really hard to control,” Levinson commented.