The heckling saga takes a new turn.

After the heckler cost Hideki Matsuyama his moment at the WM Phoenix Open, the same man was seen confronting fans.

In a video shared by dezzygolf/IG via NUCLR Golf on February 10, the man was seen in a verbal exchange with fans.

He appeared to question why the situation was serious. Interestingly, this incident comes just a days after YouTuber Jack Doherty was banned indefinitely from PGA Tour events for paying people to heckle golfers.

For Matsuyama, the WM Phoenix Open boiled down to the 72nd hole. He prepared for a 25-foot par putt that could have won the tournament, a yell from the crowd made him step away. Even after a moment to reset, he missed the putt.

Moreover, he lost out on the prize money. Matsuyama stood to make $1.728 million if he finished first. However, because of the missed putt, he received $1.046 million. But that's not all. He ended with just 300 FedEx Cup points instead of 500. Instead of Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup took the prize.

Following the incident, Matsuyama addressed the situation and its impact at the moment.

Hideki Matsuyama Takes Responsibility for Phoenix Open Loss

Speaking through an interpreter via Golf Channel, he said he felt “disappointment” and “shock” after the result. 

Then, he pointed to his own play across the week. As the eleven-time PGA tour winner said:

“Was grinding all weekend. Didn’t have my best stuff, but hung in there. I wanted to avoid the playoff as much as I could, but I just hit a bad tee shot there in regulation at 18, and Chris made a good putt there in the playoff, so hats off to him.”

What do you think, should crowd behavior like this lead to stricter action at tournaments?

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Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar