"Can ‘fanboys’ and traditional golf journalists coexist on the golf beat?"

You know the great philosopher Clemenza once said these little wars have to “happen every five years or so -- ten years -- helps to get rid of the bad blood” and just like he said way back when, it’s been “ten years since the last one.”

The Presidents Cup afforded another old v. new media, and rather curiously, I’m now included in the old part as a former new media guy because I write complete sentences (most of the time). If you are not on Twitter—consider yourself blessed—Alan Shipnuck toes the middle line like the artist he is in trying to explain what all has been going down, why the game’s leading governing bodies are favoring the new efforts to cover events and best of all, avoid the bot/groupee onslaught of defensive messages.

He writes:

But the protagonists are fun-loving guys and the nation of Stoolies has a blast tagging along for all the hijinks. Old Man Media tells the reader what happened; hopefully they add broader context like why it happened and what it all means. Barstool tells its viewers and listeners how it felt to be there. They are two entirely different missions, but they should be complementary.

The Barstool audience is too vast to ignore, especially for the USGA and PGA of America, which have only one or two big tournaments a year and lack media operations as advanced as the PGA Tour’s. It’s why they were the first folks to credential Barstool. For years the Tour tried to ignore Barstool, but at this most recent Presidents Cup, the Barstool guys were all over Royal Melbourne. It will be interesting to see how much access they get going forward. If history is a guide, it will be a lot, and Old Man Media will have to endure it.

Wishing Tim Rosaforte Well In Retirement And Admiring What He Did For Players

Tim Rosaforte interviewing Tim Finchem in 2008

Rosie and I didn’t get off to the best of starts. I can’t imagine what it was? Could have been the Yul Brynner blog references. Which, he mentioned a time or two. Or could have been when we had a minor manspat over his references to The Riv, The Foot and The Beach, for which he later signed a hat that I still keep here on the estate.

As I got to work with Tim Rosaforte at Golf World, I became a great admirer of his reporting skills. I’ll never forget sitting next to him at St. Andrews in 2010 as he worked two phones making long distance calls to South Africa. All in an effort to find out any little nugget on Louis Oosthuizen as he closed in on a surprising Open Championship win.

Those little insights would shape the impressions viewers and readers had of players. No one else in golf media was doing what Tim did by introducing us to players thrust into the limelight, or filling out the backstory of those we thought we knew. That kind of reporter is still valued in other sports but may be a dying breed in golf. Whether the world’s finest golfers genuinely appreciated how much Rosie’s reporting rounded out fan perception of them, I don’t know. I suspect most appreciated his efforts judging by how many returned his calls or texts.

In recent years, as players turn to social media to break news, I’ve begun to have my doubts about the appreciation factor for what a reporter like Tim did to make a player relatable, and therefore wealthier. I’s those little insights into a player’s upbringing, his “team”, his workout schedule, or how he likes his coffee, that tend to humanize the player just a bit more. Cranky agents of the golf world, don’t forget that.

There were also those seemingly insignificant stories Tim would share in Golf World, Golf Digest or on Golf Channel that aged in complex and mysterious ways. Say, Greg Norman taking Andy Mill to Augusta National for a birthday golf trip. The level of humanizing with that one was ultimately not Tim’s fault because at the time he just filled out the details and shared what he thought fans would enjoy learning.

Here is the GolfChannel.com item on Tim hanging up his IFB and maybe getting to consolidate his phones into one. A well-deserved retirement is in order after relaying stories about golfers both brilliant and boring, bombastic and banal. Rosie never judged them, just asked the right questions and shared the best details in making our interest in golfers that much more complete. Congratulations on a great run Tim, you deserve plenty of days whapping it around the links and hanging with the grandkids!

Tim and Geoff at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Golf Place Remains Scotland's Most Expensive Street, As It Should Be

Despite incoming golf balls, tourists galore, hotels and parking problems, Golf Place remains Scotland’s most expensive street for the third year in a row. Oh, but it does overlook the Old Course at St. Andrews. So there’s that.

From the Scotsman.

A street in St Andrews has been named the most expensive in Scotland for the third year running.

An average property in Golf Place, near the famous Old Course, costs £1.877 million, according to Bank of Scotland research.

Another nearby street in the town also makes it into the top 20 most expensive, with a house in The Scores costing £1.092 million on average.

Scores, schmores! Who needs those water and ancient ruins views when you can look at the Old Course?

Worldwide Leader Watch: Will PGA Tour Learn From USGA's Mistake?

In writing about the near-completion of the PGA Tour’s next rights deal, John Ourand writes in his exclusive Sports Business Daily piece:

ESPN has made an aggressive play for the rights, which in addition to PGA Tour Live, includes tournament coverage before the networks go on air. ESPN+ would carry the digital rights. Discovery also has emerged as a serious contender for the digital rights and appears likely to share them with NBC Sports if they can manage to work out a deal. Discovery holds the Tour’s digital rights internationally.

While we have no idea what the deal terms look like, what the coverage windows might entail and what the PGA Tour’s goals are for their streaming coverage, news that ESPN is relegated to bidding on pre-network coverage and PGA Tour Live begs this question: will the PGA Tour learn from the mistakes of the USGA?

The PGA of America left Turner for ESPN to handle the first two rounds of the PGA Championship starting in 2020 and the Masters first two rounds remain on ESPN. When the USGA signed on with Fox and Fox Sports 1 for its exclusive coverage, it essentially said goodbye to a pair of the world’s largest media companies in Comcast and Disney while welcoming in another.

Even rival executives shake their head to this day at the stupidity of cutting off ESPN, which, even with fewer homes and ratings declines since 2013 when that decision was made in Far Hills, remains immensely powerful. They can decide how much to cover and promote a sport while still establishing the sports conversation. The USGA has presumably learned their lesson after falling off the relevancy cliff by shunning two hugely powerfully companies with their deal. So will the PGA Tour find a way to invest ESPN in the PGA Tour, or go with a unproven entity in Discovery’s GolfTV Powered by the PGA Tour?

Even their rivals have to be hoping the PGA Tour learns from the USGA’s mistakes for the betterment of American professional golf coverage.

One More Look At Key Stats From 2019

In the October Golfweek (not online), I looked at ten of the more intriguing stats from the PGA Tour season with help from ShotLink. One of those eye openers appeared in Golf Channel’s five “mind-blowing” stats from 2019, embedded below.

Since it’s natural this time of year to want to reflect on the season, I think you’ll enjoy Justin Ray’s 15th club rundown of best stats from 2019. He covers a wide range from the mens and women’s games

A couple that I enjoyed:

– Iron play proved to be pivotal again at Augusta National: Woods led the Masters field in strokes gained approach on his way to victory. Over the last five years, players to lead the Masters in that statistic have finished 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 1st.

It’s never too early to start factoring that into your 2020 Masters prognosticating.

And this was sensational for Scottish golf…I think. Then again, if it’s been this long maybe not…

– Before Robert Macintyre won the European Tour Rookie of the Year title, he laid claim to some remarkable Scottish golf history at The Open Championship. Bob finished tied for sixth at Royal Portrush, becoming the first Scottish player to finish top-ten in his Open debut since Andrew Kirkaldy… in 1879!

And Golf Channel’s for those more video inclined.

Tiger Woods Meet Peter Hay: Pebble Beach's Par-3 To Get Overhaul

The addition of a good par-3 has not become essentially at some of the world’s best golf courses, and while this embrace of fun and short shots should have happened ages ago to “grow the game”, it’s still important news when a place like Pebble Beach jumps in.

The Peter Hay Golf Course has been around since 1957, a vision of a longtime professional at Pebble Beach who worked with Jack Neville on the delightful pitch and putt. But time has passed by the course and so the Pebble Beach Company’s decision to enhance the course adjacent-ish to the first hole.

Monterey Peninsula ambassador Alan Shipnuck reports that Woods is still working through the details but will emphasize the amazing views U.S. Open spectators enjoy when entering the event over Peter Hay’s course.

Besides trying to keep up with other big name golf-focused resorts and upgrading what was not very well maintained, it sounds like the vision is not entirely centered around profit, a frequent vibe at Pebble Beach that can be a deterrent to enjoying such a special place.

Peter Hay — named for one of Pebble’s first head pros, who was a champion of junior golf — has always been and shall remain free for kids 12 and under to play. (Teens paid $10 and adults $30.) As the only par-3 on the Monterey Peninsula it is an important portal for beginners and families. Pricing has not yet been announced but Perrochi says, “We know this golf course serves many different constituents. Obviously the goal is to attract more resort guests, but Peter Hay will remain the home of junior golf on the Peninsula.”

Captain America, No More: Where Does Patrick Reed Go From Here?

Team events have boosted careers and killed plenty of others. They can be cruel that way. They can also let someone like Ian Poulter buy Ferraris like you and I buy bananas.

Patrick Reed seems destined for poster child status as the most buoyed and most exposed by inclusion in a Ryder or Presidents Cup. Where does this combination of hardworking, supremely talented enigma and embarrassing rule-breaker go from here?

Beats me. I never would have guessed he’d be picked again for a Cup team after having the audacity to complain about getting saddled with Tiger Woods, all while playing horrifically at the 2018 Ryder Cup. But the Task Force and specifically, Woods, gave him another shot at the 2019 Presidents Cup. A singles win didn’t make up for his dramatic and turbulent presence.

Some of the best writers in the business took a crack at trying to figure out where Reed—who plenty of fans and writers think deserves time away from the game for his Hero World Challenge cheating—goes from here.

Eamon Lynch at Golfweek wonders who will have the courage to bench “Captain America”.

It’s like you always say: you make birdies, you don’t hear much.

Investing in Captain America comes at a cost, of course. Everyone understands that accounting. Longtime allies will melt away. Reputations built on probity will be blemished. Men of character will sit on the sidelines while one with none takes the field. But payment for that will be due someone else. Captain America’s end, when it comes, won’t be amid the raucous cheers and backslapping that defined his victories. It will be a somber affair, decided in some nondescript office when powerful men, an eye trained on their disillusioned core supporters, say simply, enough.

GolfChannel.com’s Ryan Lavner notes that Reed is now on his own again after surviving the post-Hero backlash within “the protective cocoon of team play.”

No more captains and teammates shrugging off his misbehavior for the sake of team unity. No more reporters being held at arm’s length. No more hiding behind a red, white and blue banner. It’ll be Reed, alone, facing fan criticism and absorbing daggers from his peers.

How Reed navigates the next nine months, until the 2020 Ryder Cup, will be an insight into the rest of his career – and to this point, he’s shown zero remorse or any interest in image rehabilitation.

ESPN.com’s Bob Harig thinks it may just be time for Reed the relentless world traveler to shut it down for a bit of reflection.

Not just because in Reed's nine events since the Tour Championship in August, he's played in nine different countries -- none of which is the United States. (Germany, the Netherlands, England, Japan, China, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, The Bahamas and Australia.)
No, perhaps it is time for some reflection, some introspection. Reed is a unique talent, a guy with plenty of moxie.

But his brashness has gotten him into trouble, and the way he doubled down on the rules incident without acknowledging remorse only served to make things worse. Seems the next few weeks, prior to the start of 2020, might be a window to sort some of that out, perhaps returning with a new perspective.

Tripp Isenhour and I discussed Reed on Golf Central, considering whether he will ever be picked again. I was not about to play the never card given the events of Paris last year.

CBS, NBC, Golf Channel Have Scooped Up Majority Of Next PGA Tour Contract Through 2030

John Ourand predicted the outcome just hours before reporting exclusively for Sports Business Daily on the PGA Tour’s next TV rights deal, which looks very similar in many respects to their current arrangement.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Any baseball fan can tell you how the discombobulated structure of network and playoff games takes something away from the simplicity of knowing where to find a telecast. And while streaming, cord-cutting and other sports chip away at the number of viewers, golf has posted smaller declines compared to some sports, in part because final rounds are found on networks and the core audience knows where to find early round coverage.

That said, Ourand says deals haven’t been officially signed pending the resolution of “minor sticking points”. Left undecided is the provider of digital streams for PGA Tour Live coverage and other digital elements. But he still reports many exclusive details worth considering beyond the money stuff, which only PGA Tour VP’s care about as they look to upgrade their X3’s to X5 M’s this holiday shopping season.

Ourand says the annual value of the deal jumps from $400 million to $700 million. And….

CBS and NBC essentially will keep the same regular-season packages. The big difference will be seen with the FedEx Cup Playoffs. CBS and NBC will produce all three playoff tournaments, including the Tour Championship, in alternating years. As part of the nine-year deals, NBC will carry the playoffs five times and CBS will carry them four times. Previously, NBC and CBS shared these rights, with NBC producing most of them each year.

I’m not sure of the reasoning behind this. Nor can I envision why fans will care.

An official announcement is not expected to come until early next year. The big hold-up is with digital rights, which are currently held by NBC Sports as part of PGA Tour Live and are still being negotiated. ESPN has made an aggressive play for the rights, which in addition to PGA Tour Live, includes tournament coverage before the networks go on air. ESPN+ would carry the digital rights. Discovery also has emerged as a serious contender for the digital rights and appears likely to share them with NBC Sports if they can manage to work out a deal. Discovery holds the Tour’s digital rights internationally. After initial interest, it appears that Amazon has dropped out of the bidding. Sources said it was too difficult to handicap a favorite for the digital rights.

Again, this is pre-coverage on PGA Tour Live and remains a small part of the equation. More fascinating is that the PGA Tour Live broadcast window and role sounds about the same in the new deal as the old.

The Tour hired Evolution Media as counsel on its rights deals. CBS and NBC also emerge as winners, keeping rights to a property that generated a lot of interest among media companies. The deal answers a lot of questions about the new ViacomCBS, whose merger became official two weeks ago. Coming on the heels of its UEFA Champions League deal, this PGA Tour deal shows that CBS will be aggressive in getting sports rights. The deal shows how important the Tour is to Golf Channel -- and how important Golf Channel is to the Tour. As part of its offer, AT&T said it would turn Headline News into a golf-centric channel, but sources said AT&T never got close to a deal.

In the battle of media moguls, does this mean Brian Roberts closed out Randall Stephenson 6&5?

Left unsaid: how much AT&T’s debt issues and activist investor impacted willingness to introduced a new channel as the future becomes OTT/app-focused.

Also to be explained: what happened to anticipated interest from Fox, Amazon and ABC, or the to-be-created PGA Tour Network. Are the first three outlets cited saving their money for the NFL or did they decide golf just wasn’t for them.

The structure outlined appears to be a small victory for network and cable where a majority of golf fans still reside. However, we’ll hopefully learn of efforts addressed in the new deal to provide cord cutters the option to pay for this coverage via OTT services, and also of PGA Tour demands for certain production values.

Also unaddressed yet: what happens to LPGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry coverage rights?

And the most pressing question of all should settled soon: is the CEO mid-final round interview a thing of the past?

Ourand Predicts PGA Tour Broadcast Incumbents To Return, GolfTV Will Get Digital Rights

In his 2020 predictions column, Sports Business Daily’s media writer John Ourand says this about the PGA Tour television rights negotiations:

Incumbent broadcasters CBS and NBC Sports Group will renew their PGA Tour deals, including Golf Channel. What’s particularly interesting about this deal, though, will be the tour’s U.S. digital rights. After initial interest, talks with Amazon will not materialize, and ESPN+ will put in an aggressive bid. But the tour ultimately will decide to sell its digital rights to Discovery, which will make it part of its GolfTV business.

The latter portion of his prediction would be fascinating given the enticing possibilities of including Amazon and/or ESPN/Disney as a media partner given how established both already have become in the streaming world.

Of course it’s all a prediction at this point and news of deal particulars could drop any moment.

Which reminds me, a new Mandalorian drops Wednesday!

**Not long after this post went up, the Forecaddie reported the retirement of CBS producer Lance Barrow at the end of 2020. The longtime head of their golf team replaced the late Frank Chirkinian.

Ramifications Of 2019's Presidents Cup's Big Ratings: 141% Increase Since Korea

Of course naysayers will score a few points noting Tiger’s involvement, which still draws up to a million more eyeballs than most golf telecasts. And they won’t be wrong.

But consider what the Presidents Cup was facing this year in drawing an audience: late night finishes in the Eastern Time Zone, Christmas party and event season when people are less likely to be home on a Friday or Saturday night, and the Presidents Cup coming on the heels of a fall when cartoon reruns drew larger ratings than most of the PGA Tour’s fall events (especially non-Tiger Asia swing tournaments).

First, For Immediate Release:

MOST-WATCHED CABLE TELECAST IN PRESIDENTS CUP HISTORY

Saturday’s Final Day Singles Matches on GOLF Channel Featuring Playing

Captain Tiger Woods Sees 141% Increase vs. 2015 Final Day in South Korea 

Viewership Peaked at 2.15 Million Viewers Per Minute (11:15-11:30P ET)

as United States Team Was Completing its Come-From-Behind Victory 

ORLANDO, Fla., (Dec. 16, 2019) – Saturday’s Final Day singles matches at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia became the most-watched cable telecast in Presidents Cup history, according to Nielsen Fast Nationals. 

Airing live in primetime on GOLF Channel (6 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET), the final day posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.742 million viewers per minute (+141% vs. ’15 Final Day), including 1.705 million viewers per minute tuning in to the linear telecast. Viewership peaked at 2.15 million viewers per minute (1.37 U.S. HH rating) from 11:15-11:30 p.m. ET as the United States team was completing its come-from-behind victory over the International team. Saturday also became the most-streamed Final Day in Presidents Cup history.

There was also this regarding Friday’s eleven hour telecast featuring two sessions. Note that viewership average over eleven hours of golf:

VIEWERSHIP: @PresidentsCup Day 3 matches TAD (Total Audience Delivery) averaged 841K viewers per min on @GolfChannel, +47% vs '15 Pres Cup in South Korea.
- Peaked 8:45-9 pm ET with 1.172 million viewers
- Most-streamed Presidents Cup day on record with 13.8 million live minutes pic.twitter.com/bf6sj9JF9S

— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) December 14, 2019

Yet to come in as of this post: NBC’s numbers from the weekend showing the repeat of the sessions. Later in the week we should have a sense of total audience.

But we already know enough from such strong numbers in weird time slots to highlight a few things.

—Sports fans will watch for long spans or dip in for decent-lengths of time if it’s compelling, featuring elite players at a quality venue.

—Team events and match play continue to engage fans in ways that stroke play cannot.

—Never hurts to have a close match.

—The PGA Championship, played at night in Australia, in a winter month, and in Olympic years as many suggested, would have been a ratings success along with a “grow the game” extravaganza.

Clayton: Royal Melbourne Allowed Tiger To Show He's Still Better Than Everyone

At the 2019 Presidents Cup, a supreme design presented free of distance defenses was both fun to watch and possibly horrifying for the golfers who make a living at the game. Because as Mike Clayton notes for Golf Australia, on a golf course requiring both brains, brawn and control, Tiger Woods was allowed to play freely.

Off the tee he put the ball right where he had to and then set to work with his irons. In fairness, most of them were short ones, but every time he looked up the ball was going right where he aimed it. The trajectory was perfect, the ball shaped to suit the green and only rarely did he take himself out of a hole by missing in the wrong place.



At the par-3 third with 148 yards to the hole, he flew a wedge a step short of the front line of the green and, as every member at Royal Melbourne knows, the inevitability is the ball tumbles back 20 paces to the base of the hill. He was short again at the treacherous uphill, fifth, but they were rare errors. 

It was a master class in playing a treacherous golf course with control and precision and watching Woods swing and hit this week suggests the race is still on for Jack Nicklaus’ major championship record. 



He was the best player here.

This does beg a question. Tiger should ask the governing bodies dragging their feet on distance and equipment regulation how many majors they think he might have won had they not let bomb and gouge become a thing that works? You know, just as a conversation starter.

Video: Live From Sends Nobilo Off In Style

While you were sleeping, Rich Lerner and Brandel Chamblee paid tribute to Frank Nobilo on his last “Golf Central Live From” show. He’s off to CBS full-time, but over the last fifteen years has been a huge part of our enjoyment of major championship coverage.

The segment:

Why? USA Completes Impressive Presidents Cup Comeback And Not Many Feel Very Satisfied By The Outcome

The Internationals came up just short at Royal Melbourne. Outside of the Team USA inner circle and some fanboys granted a media pass, this will not be remembered as a genuinely satisfying win by the Americans.

Maybe I’m dead wrong. Perhaps there will be dancing in the streets of Jupiter and residents of Quail Hollow will awake to some overturned cars. A White House visit could include Captain Tiger Woods declaring this better than all of his major championship wins combined.

But I doubt it.

Even though the USA’s 16-14 Presidents Cup win left fewer-than-usual feel-good vibes, that sense will not take away from the often-remarkable golf played by both sides. The sensational Royal Melbourne will also rise above the weeks’ strange vibes, as will the effort by the many rookies in a high-pressure team golf event. The matches were immensely satisfying to watch. All involved should be proud.

And yet the ultimate takeaway from Team USA’s 16-14 win will be one of apathy thanks to the inclusion, embrace and pitiful presence of Patrick Reed.

While Woods played beautifully and carried himself with great class, his captaining left much to be desired. Not only was the Reed selection confounding in the wake of 2018’s Ryder Cup boondoggle, where Reed had the audacity to complain about getting saddled with Woods as he posted what would have been a score in the low 80s, Reed’s place on the team was so unnecessary in a year of major American depth.

Yet Woods rode Reed through three losses before finally benching him Saturday afternoon. A dust-up involving his caddie less than 24 hours after a peculiar 2-down, post-putt mocking celebration only reinforced that Reed is a supreme point-misser who has not learned lessons from past mistakes. Patrick Reed is the guy who over-celebrates after a dunk when his team is down by 30.

Reed’s past “body of work” and complicated presence meant he should not have been rewarded with a Presidents Cup team selection. In a “grow the game” world, Reed’s inability to grasp the very basics makes him capable of doing real damage to the reputation of professional golf.

When Reed cheated in last week’s Hero World Challenge, Woods was left with a dilemma. Leaving him off the team last minute was not feasible, but rewarding him with three starts alongside nice guy Webb Simpson left a bad taste in the mouths of American fans wanting to see a reward for class and quality. Simpson ultimately will regret protesting the “undeserved” heckling Reed received.

Maybe time will heal and wipe away memories of the Reed taint on these matches. Or the strange embrace by both Woods and the PGA Tour of the game’s ultimate 24/7, First Team, All-Conference example of Conduct Unbecoming. For now, this Presidents Cup will be remembered for being won by a team embracing a toxic figure beyond repair. And that’s why even many Americans will not feel good about the outcome.

Els Just Has To Get Something Off His Chest About Crowds: "We shut up and we get on with things."

While you were sleeping, the Presidents Cup captain’s presser took an intriguing turn when Tiger Woods delicately addressed crowd jeering at Royal Melbourne. The remarks came in the wake of Patrick Reed and caddie Kessler Karain getting into it with a fan, resulting in Karain’s expulsion from Sunday singles bag-toting.

Q. The comments you've made about the galleries, do you think it's become disrespectful and gone too far, particularly today?

TIGER WOODS: You know, it has happened. Have people said things that have been over the top? Yes. I've heard it. I've been in the groups playing when it has happened, and I've been inside the ropes as a captain today witnessing it.

As I said, all I ask for all the galleries is be excited but be respectful of the players, all 24 of us.

Then a few questions later, Captain Ernie Els just had to get something off his chest. Note the jump-in here without a question:

Q. Tiger, did you have any thoughts on that? Was there a desire to keep as many guys fresh, or not?

TIGER WOODS: Well, that's one of the neat things about playing in team matches. Guys are, in this format, are expected to play two sessions, and could go up to five, all 12 guys were aware of that. There were things that could happen and we could make adjustments on the fly, some guys would sit; some guys would go.

Today, sitting out four players in each session is never an easy thing, and we got feel for who was playing well, who was ready to go, different pairings, and we went with it.

ERNIE ELS: I just want to say one thing about the crowd. I've played in many Presidents Cups. I've played in the U.S. many times. If you look back at New York and how these players were treated in New York, this crowd is pretty quiet.

I mean, we just get treated the same wherever you go as an away game, there's some heckling going on and we all know that, and you prepare for that, and that's just the way it goes.

We shut up and we get on with things. That's what we did in New York. So it's part of the game. And I'm with Tiger; I absolutely, I'm against heckling. I'm against crowds being disrespectful to the players, but it happens. We as professionals, we move on.

I think Tiger is one of the ultimate professionals that's ever played the game. I've played with him where he's been heckled in U.S. Opens and a lot of other places. He's taken it on the chin and he's moved forward. He's been an example.

Same has happened to me. It's happened to a lot of players. But I must say, this Aussie crowd, okay, they got a little bit boisterous this afternoon with a couple of beers, but which crowd doesn't. You take it and you move on.

Well okay then.

Patrick Reed's Caddie Gets Into Fan Squabble, Will Not Caddy In Presidents Cup Sunday Singles

Following his morning loss with Webb Simpson to take his record to 0-3-0 in the 2019 Presidents Cup, Patrick Reed’s caddie and brother-in-law Kessler Karain were battling with unruly fans, with Karain jumping off a cart to physically confront the fan. Bob Harig reports that the PGA Tour investigated and concluded that Karain will not loop on Sunday. Their statement:

“Following an incident that took place on Saturday at the Presidents Cup involving Kessler Karain and a spectator, Karain will not return to caddie for Sunday’s final-round Singles matches. We will have no further comment at this time.”

Fan video caught the tail end of the dispute:

Patrick Reed's caddie defending his cheating employer's honour. Go home. You're not welcome here. pic.twitter.com/z1nB8LHerA

— Benjo (@brushbrook) December 14, 2019

Kessler provided this statement to select media, with the Foreplay Pod the first to post. Note that athletes are now with a capital A.

Official statement to Fore Play from Patrick Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain, on #PresidentsCup altercation with fan: pic.twitter.com/ZQXT0NxhJ7

— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) December 14, 2019