Outside of the Ryder Cup and the jovial crowds we see at the event, it’s not too often we see a golf crowd roundly booing someone but that’s exactly what Sergio Garcia experienced back in 2015.
Garcia was one of the top players on the PGA Tour at the time and was very much in the mix to win The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
However, for Garcia, the task was never going to be easy as he was neck and neck with two hometown heroes in the USA, Kevin Kisner and Rickie Fowler.
And it’s safe to say the crowds around Sawgrass made their feelings known to Garcia.
Why golf fans booed Sergio Garcia at the Players Championship in 2015
As we’ve seen in Ryder Cups, the American fans can become a bit over-zealous at times and on this occasion, things spilled over a bit too much.
With Garcia coming down the 17th and looking to pick up a shot to win the tournament outright, the crowds turned on the Spaniard.
Rickie Fowler was already in the clubhouse at -12 but rather than will Garcia on to see off the American, the Sawgrass crowd instead turned to booing the Spaniard.
In quite unsavoury scenes, Garcia was visibly annoyed and frustrated at the boos as commentators on the event questioned the security inside the course, as well as those who chose to boo.
“Obviously some guys are there that don’t deserve to be here watching golf but that’s what it is,” Garcia quipped at the time.
But after being forced into a playoff and eventually losing to Fowler, Garcia may well look back on this one as an opportunity missed thanks to outside factors.
What Rickie Fowler made of the boos for Sergio Garcia
As expected, golfers generally stick together on this sort of thing and despite winning the tournament, Fowler admitted at the time he saw no place in the sport for such scenes.
Indeed, Fowler was pressed on the matter afterwards by the media and insisted that it’s something he didn’t want to see, albeit, he was unaware due to being on the range ahead of the upcoming playoff.
- READ MORE: Viktor Hovland confirms the reason why he’s split with coach Joe Mayo and who he’s working with now
When asked if he supported a rival being booed by a home crowd, Fowler wanted nothing of it.
“No, there’s some fans that have been out there for a while. I’m sure they were enjoying themselves. There was a lot of stuff being said, but I know, as players, we’re not worrying about that.
“We’re just trying to play the best we can. Obviously he played well this week, has played well this week, and I was lucky to be the one out in front of them. But no. If they were booing, no, you don’t want that.”
With golf heading to Bethpage for the Ryder Cup in 2025, we could well see scenes like this again.
Quite whether things boil over, though, remains to be seen as the US try and take back the Ryder Cup.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
