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Ian Poulter wants heckling to be "stamped out" at golf tournaments

Ian Poulter wants heckling from spectators to be "stamped out" of golf after an incident at the W...



Ian Poulter wants heckling to...
Golf

Ian Poulter wants heckling to be "stamped out" at golf tournaments

Ian Poulter wants heckling from spectators to be "stamped out" of golf after an incident at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational in Memphis.

The Englishman was hitting his second shot into the par-four 18th during his first-round when a member of the crowd shouted: "get in the bunker". The 43-year old made par on the hole and finished four-under for the tournament - four shots behind leader Jon Rahm.

Speaking after his round to Sky Sports, Poulter said, "I get it. I am an Englishman, I play on the Ryder Cup team. I am sure I have upset a few of these guys from time to time when they are watching television."

"But when we are playing a world-class event like we do week in week out and you have got guys like that, that are in a small group, they want to feel big in front of their friends and they scream silly things out, it is disappointing."

 When the shout came from the crowd, the five-time Ryder Cup winner questioned the spectator on why they did it. He also revealed the person in the crowd got escorted away by security, "I hate to do that, but why should we be abused in this day and age? Unfortunately, it happens quite often.

"Most of the time we just ignore it and let it go but it is a real shame. It is just disappointing.

"We have got a WGC tournament, it is a great field, and it is a great purse. It has got everything that we want to come and compete apart from one idiot who decides to be silly. So, it is a shame. I hope going forward we can control it more and more and it gets stamped out. It is not needed in the game of golf."

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