What Tiger Woods said after a fan yelled in his backswing when he was trying to win 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie

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Unfortunately, from time to time, golf fans overstep the mark when in attendance at professional events.

The most recent example came during Saturday’s third round of the Cognizant Classic. A spectator shouted at Rickie Fowler, prompting the six-time Tour winner to respond.

Last month, during the Genesis Invitational, Rory McIlroy was left fuming after a fan delivered a jibe in the direction of his caddie, Harry Diamond.

Given the close-knit nature of professional golf events and the number of people in attendance, incidents like those above are often unavoidable. One of the more high-profile altercations happened at the 2018 Open Championship.

Tiger Woods’ reaction to fan shouting at the 2018 Open Championship

During the 2018 Open, 15-time major winner Tiger Woods had to deal with a heckler as he played Carnoustie’s 18th hole during the final round.

A fan shouted at the top of Woods’ backswing, and it clearly impacted the former world number one. However, the American still managed to give himself a short birdie putt.

With Woods in contention, the incident drew plenty of critics from around the golfing world.

During his post-tournament press conference, Woods was understanding of the situation, however.

“Yeah, I flinched, but I’ve had things like that happen a lot in my career with people who just tried to time it,” Woods said.

“Either that, or they’re a little bit over-served. They tipped back a few, and it’s late in the day. Unfortunately, that’s part of what we have to deal with in today’s game. People are trying to yell out things to try to be on TV or be on social media or whatever it may be. That was too close to the game of play.”

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Tiger Woods’ performance at the 2018 Open Championship

The spectator, who was reportedly seated in the hospitality box, was ejected from Carnoustie. Fortunately, the incident didn’t have any major impact on the result of the 2018 Open.

At one point, Woods looked on course to land his fourth Claret Jug after taking the lead during the front nine. Two birdies and no bogeys on his opening nine had fans dreaming of major number 15.

However, Francesco Molinari ran out victorious while playing alongside Woods. The Italian finished two shots clear of Xander Schauffele after the American struggled during the final round.

Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and Kevin Kisner were also tied for second place alongside Schauffele.