At a time when the PGA Tour is under fire for more than one reason across the golf landscape, the last thing Jay Monahan and co need is the idea that its players are becoming an issue themselves.
However, judging by this week’s Valspar Championship, the TOUR is very much in danger of getting that reputation among its players.
While slow play is a problem fans want punishing, there are other issues in golf right now which need resolving.
One of them is the players and their behaviour.
And after Collin Morikawa came under fire for neglecting media duties a few weeks back at the Arnold Palmer, the PGA Tour is now seeing a number of its players behave pretty badly at the Valspar.
Sahith Theegala and Karl Vilips continue ugly trend among PGA Tour players
While everyone who has ever picked up a golf club knows the game can be hugely frustrating, most of us are not playing in front of an audience of millions and influencing the next generation.
However, right now, the PGA Tour is seeing an influx of players losing their cool and being caught on camera doing so.
Patton Kizzire set things off by kicking his putter across the green in round one this week but rather than it become calmer since then, things seem to have got worse.
In round two, the bad-looking trend of poor on-course behaviour continued as Sahith Theegala not only slammed his club into the tee box, but then launched it across the golf course in frustration.
But while Theegala might have thought he’d be the only one out there getting angry, it wasn’t the case.
Australian golfer Karl Vilips also got in on the act as he didn’t quite hit a chip shot the way he wanted but rather than simply accepting the issue, Vilips forcibly hammered his golf club into the rough around the green in frustration.
With three such incidents in just two rounds of the Valspar, it begs the question of if PGA Tour players are getting to the point where it’s too much.
With children watching on and taking note of such behaviour, it’s bad for the game, while adults who have followed the game for a long time will point to the behaviour just being unprofessional.
Yes, players are human and frustrations happen. But under the spotlight and with a bigger platform, these players need to know when to rein things in.
Tyrrell Hatton leading the bad examples on LIV Golf
While the PGA Tour might have a bit of a problem to iron out here and there could be some fines incoming for those players mentioned above, it’s worth noting this is not a brand new thing.
Indeed, over the years we’ve seen the odd outburst of frustration but when it comes to consistently doing it, Tyrrell Hatton stands out.
Now on LIV Golf, we might not see as much of Hatton as we used to but the outbursts are still well publicised.
Eddie Pepperell labelled Hatton ‘childish’ last year while after an explosive swearing rant, Dame Laura Davies admitted to being stunned at the Englishman.
“I am flabbergasted. He’s making himself look a bit daft now, to be honest, Davies said at last year’s DP World Tour Championship.
With this sort of behaviour almost becoming normalised in golf, the game needs to nip things in the bud before tempers boil over and something more serious happens.
Indeed, we only have to look at Rory McIlroy’s interaction with the heckler at The Players to see how things can get too much.
Golf simply doesn’t need this stuff and it’s high time it was stamped out.
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