DeChambeau Hears It From Fans But Does It Amount To "Psychological Abuse"?

Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English unraveled during Sunday’s WGC FedEx St Jude, opening the door to Abraham Ancer’s playoff win over Sam Burns and Hideki Matsuyama. Getting put on the clock several times did not help the duo.

Seems Bryson heard it from fans and even pushed back some. I’m not sure it’s reached the level of “psychological abuse” GolfDigest.com’s Shane Ryan is claiming here, but he was there, and offered this account and it’s worth taking seriously:

Since then, it has evolved into fans calling DeChambeau various forms of Koepka's name, with "Brooksy" being a favorite. On the surface, this may sound ridiculous, minor, and even funny. In reality, when you follow DeChambeau for even half a round, and you see the faces of the people taunting him for a mean little thrill, it looks crueler and more intense than would come across on TV or in written reports. It clearly makes DeChambeau miserable, but he's locked into an unwinnable position where if he reacts, he looks thin-skinned and inevitably makes the abuse worse. Yet staying silent doesn't help, either. After staring down several fans throughout the course of play on Sunday—a long glare, accomplishing nothing, before he marched away—he finally broke down on the 17th tee when a female fan shouted, yet again, "Brooksy!"

"Good one!" he shouted back, but he looked bitter, and tired, and defeated, and the only thing you could feel for him in that moment was pity.

Dating to the days of the Morris’ vs. the Parks, golfers have been subjected to odd forms of heckling or abuse from fans. But it seems different now given a few factors: post-lockdown entitlement to be boorish and the specter of gambling.

The first part the PGA Tour has no control over other than booting fans who are abusive. The second part? I just don’t know how a bettor can trust the sport if a player can be so thrown off their game by hearing “Brooksy”. Imagine what will happen when there is real money on the line?

Anyway, the final round highlights of Ancer’s win, arguably the biggest by a Mexican golfer (though he was born in the U.S. but maintains duel citizenship):