The eight words Jon Rahm said to a heckler at 2024 LIV event after Rickie Fowler incident at the Cognizant Classic

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Rickie Fowler was involved in an altercation with a fan during the third round of the Cognizant Classic at PGA National.

Playing the testing par-four 16th, Fowler missed a birdie putt and was greeted by a response from one fan. Fowler replied, “Of course you know. That’s why you are in the stands.”

Golf fans praised Fowler’s reaction, and the six-time Tour winner certainly stuck up for himself and his golfing ability.

However, the incident involving Fowler is not the first time a golfer has been the target of criticism from a spectator. During LIV Golf’s Team Championship in Dallas, Jon Rahm delivered the perfect response to a fan who was critical of his decision to sign for the PIF-backed league.

Jon Rahm’s response to a heckler at 2024 LIV Golf event

While Rahm was practicing for the LIV season final, he was heckled by a group of content creators who highlighted the amount of money he accepted to sign for the PIF-backed league.

“That is crazy you got paid $500 million just to only lose to Scottie Scheffler in majors,” they shouted.

Rahm, however, took the insult well. “To be fair, we all lose to him,” he responded.

One of the hecklers then added: “Yeah, I would have done the same thing if I worked for a company and I couldn’t work my way up the ladder.”

To be fair to Rahm, he was in a pretty good position to take the jibe, considering he had just won the LIV Golf Individual Championship in Chicago.

• READ MORE: The reason Jon Rahm did not want to be in Full Swing and the prediction he made about the Netflix documentary before the first season came out

Three high-profile fan-golfer altercations

Unfortunately, fan altercations have become commonplace at PGA Tour events, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup.

During the 2019 Presidents Cup, Patrick Reed was abused by Australian fans after being accused of cheating at the Hero World Challenge. Reed’s caddie Kessler Karain reacted to one fan who was particularly forthright with the 2018 Masters champ.

More recently, Rory McIlroy was left fuming at the Genesis Invitational after a fan criticised his caddie, Harry Diamond. McIlroy’s caddie faced criticism in 2024 after the Northern Irishman’s winless streak in the major championships continued.

Finally, at the 2024 Presidents Cup, a fan was ejected from Royal Montreal Golf Club after abuse was thrown Scottie Scheffler’s way. Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, was enraged by the incident.