The Fan, The Superstar and the Phone

And the Moment Few Saw

Every week I have an idea about what I want to write about. Many times, I start writing about my intended subject matter only to encounter a brand-new idea which overtakes my original idea. Fortunately, Substack saves those already started newsletters for me to return to finish and publish later.

This week is one of those weeks. I started writing, but I encountered something which caused me to change course. Actually, two things came along.

The first happened with Rory McIlroy.

Last Tuesday during a practice round at The Players Championship, a fan heckled Rory following a tee shot which found the water.

“Just like 2011 at Augusta,” the fan is reported to have said.

This jab stemmed from McIlroy snap hooking his tee shot on #10 during the final round of the 2011 Masters. McIlroy held the lead at the time and ended up making a triple-bogey on the hole. He went on to shoot a 43 on the back nine for a final round of 80 finishing ten shots back in a tie for 15th.

In response to the fan, McIlroy walked off the tee, took the fan’s phone out of his hand and started down the fairway leaving the heckler stunned.

But, there is another twist.

The heckler turned out to be University of Texas golfer, Luke Potter. The 20 year-old junior won the Hayt Collegiate Tournament at Sawgrass CC on Monday.

Potter, whose phone was returned, and a Texas teammate were escorted off the TPC of Sawgrass for code of conduct violations The Players has in place for fans.

Potter should have known better. As a tournament player himself, his heckling is unacceptable. Not to say heckling at golf tournaments is ever acceptable, but a tournament player should absolutely know not to do it.

On the other side, players like McIlroy get taunted often. Most of the time, they ignore it. This time, for whatever reason, McIlroy took exception.

But, while Potter was wrong, so too was McIlroy. To walk over, take a phone out of the hands of a fan and take it for a stroll down the fairway was childish. At most, he should have stared the fan down. At best, ignore the ignorant statement. If you’re in the arena like McIlroy, you have to be the bigger person. As a superstar, it is even more important to stay above the fray.

I try not to be overly critical of players who do respond in the moment. The pressure to perform is immense. Expectations often place huge burdens on them. However, the comment from Potter is somewhat innocuous. McIlroy is a superstar in the golf world. With his status, there is more expected and more scrutiny. Simply put, Rory needs to be better.

I remember a story about Tiger meeting with Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill early in Tiger’s career. Tiger complained about not having a normal life. Everyone wanted a piece of him. All he wanted was to play golf for a living. Palmer listened respectfully as Tiger railed on.

When Tiger finished, Arnie looked at him thoughtfully and said there was a way Tiger could have a more normal life.

Intently, Tiger listened.

Arnie told Tiger, if he wanted to have a normal life, the answer was simple. Give the money back.

The point was simple. When you accept the money people want to give you, there are expectations tied to the money. The kind of money people had paid Tiger brought all kinds of expectations and demands. Having a “normal” life simply was not an option.

But there was something else I saw which caught my attention. It went by without being noticed by the golf media, but someone on social media caught it. And it was one of the best things I saw in golf all week.

To find out what it was, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers receive additional content each week.

For now, be grateful when you play. Be thankful for the privilege and opportunity to play this amazing game. Now, go golf!