Rickie Fowler is undoubtedly one of the most popular golfers in the world. It’s not only his success that helped him connect with his fans. The 36-year-old’s unique style on the course also made him an icon for the youth. But the glam and glory also often draw the wrong kind of attention. And considering the lack of success he has experienced in golf recently, he has become an easy target for some of the fans. Fowler shared one such interaction with a follower who vented out at him after he narrowly missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs Bubble for the TOUR Championship.

Fowler shared a story on Instagram of a series of messages from @cliffcalson90. The individual called the 6-time PGA Tour champion disgusting names and stated, “Imagine how embarrassed your family probably is of you.” Apart from calling Rickie a loser and a worthless goofball, the person also sent the laughter expression “hahaha” multiple times to fill up the chat window.

The Jupiter local delivered two of his best performances for the season, the first couple of playoffs. He finished T6 in the FedEx St Jude Championship with a 10-under 270. Fowler needed a T6 finish to get into the East Lake field. Unfortunately, he missed the position by 1 stroke as he finished T7 in the BMW Championship with a 7-under 273. As disappointed as he would have been, imagine the horror he went through when a fan made it his mission to abuse him over his missed opportunity at Caves Valley.

Frustrated with the absurd message, Fowler captioned it “Cliff, or whoever you are, you know where to find me, and I’d love to see you face to face. You’re the one hiding behind your little fake account… I’m sure your significant others are so thrilled with how you’ve done in life…enjoy your Sunday evening @cliffcalson90.” The passive-aggressive reply from the PGA Tour pro certainly seems like the ideal way to deal with such outrageous messages.

Even some of Fowler’s harshest critics thought the same. They were shocked to learn how the fan behaved on social media as they commented on the tweet shared by Rickie Fowler Tracker of the story. One of them said, “Rickie your first mistake was opening IG messages buddy. but damn I love that he’s showing some backbone.” There were many such followers who acknowledged how Fowler kept it classy without venting out on the fan himself.

Rickie further posted another story, “Great seeing all the replies…love you guys and we always appreciate the support!! We typically ignore the hate, but I figured I’d give you a taste for fun. Unfortunately, there is that very small percentage of people who have to do/say certain things to make themselves feel better…” reminding fans of the importance of respect and kindness, and concluded with gratitude and “much love.”

This is not even an isolated incident of a golf enthusiast abusing a pro on social media. Max Homa has been a victim of such nuisance often over the past few months. And he has pushed them back the same way Rickie Fowler did today.

Max Homa was fighting off the negativity just like Rickie Fowler

Unlike Rickie Fowler, Max Homa had been missing cuts and fields for quite a long time now. He had his last shot at making the FedEx Cup playoffs at Sedgefield. However, he missed the cutline by 4 strokes and didn’t play the weekend rounds. Throughout this period, Homa has received numerous insensitive or absurd messages that he has shared on his social media. One of the most recent incidents saw a fan asking the 34-year-old to Venmo him back the $1,900 he bet on him to win the 2025 John Deere Classic. To this, Max replied,  “Gamble like a big boy, Carl, and take ur lumps like the rest of us.”

While throwing shade at his fans is not his usual style, Max Homa has expressed how he has tried to stay away from social media recently. During a press conference, he was asked about his lack of presence on X these days. To that, the 6-time PGA Tour champion replied, “Twitter or X is an awful, awful place. It took me a while to catch onto how impactful that can be and how much of a waste of energy… you get people, people say some bad, bad things. People tell you, you should die on the internet…. Yeah, it’s a safe haven for a**holes, for lack of a better term. sorry PGA Tour.” Hopefully, after his recent altercation with Cliff, Rickie Fowler would also reconsider his approach towards Instagram messages.