Golf has a civility problem. Fans are proving it: “Brooksie” chants at the 2021 Memorial Tournament, jeering at the 2025 Ryder Cup, or the harassment at the 2023 Open Championship. While the sport’s governing bodies have rolled out stringent warnings and measures, elite players and analysts continue to raise concerns. Hall of Fame member Sir Nick Faldo has weighed in on the conversation, condemning misconduct from hecklers.

“Oh, well, the Ryder Cup was flat out disgusting, wasn’t it? Absolutely disgusting. Those players were worn out having to deal with that. But, hey, that’s what losers do, isn’t it? If you’re a loser, you scream at somebody who’s successful because you’re never going to be successful.”

“I don’t know what they do, though. Do they go back to the pub and tell their mates, ‘I hurled abuse at somebody all day long.’ But it didn’t affect them. They still won. So that didn’t really work, did it?”

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01/10

Before 2026 Scottish Open, in Which Tournament Scheffler Last Missed the Cut?

2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship2023 Memorial Tournament2021 Players Championship2024 Genesis Scottish Open

Oops, bogey!

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Sir Nick Faldo made these comments to Alex Perry at Today’s Golfers, in direct response to the R&A’s newly unveiled fan code of conduct, ‘The Open Commitment,’ which will govern spectator behavior at Royal Birkdale next week.

The policy is based on five principles:

• Respect the players
• Respect the links
• Respecting each other
• Stay aware, and
• Enjoy responsibility

If spectators violate the policy, repercussions will include their removal from the course with no refund on their ticket.

In an official announcement, R&A chief executive Mark Darbon framed it as protecting tradition rather than changing it, saying the atmosphere at The Open is built on “a shared respect for the players, the course, fellow fans, and the tradition of the championship.”

R&A’s move follows ugly episodes at the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup. Last month, U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark was subjected to chants of disrespect, heckling from the fans, and even slogans as he made each mistake. Even Team Europe endured relentless jeering at last year’s Ryder Cup.

Faldo’s frustration reflects a deeper gap: players face fines; fans face only ejection. The majors introduced a formal Player Code of Conduct this season. Joaquin Neiman was docked two strokes at the U.S. Open for throwing a club. Sergio Garcia got a warning at the Masters for his frustrating tantrum on the course.

Outside of R&A’s new policy, fan behavior at professional golf has largely gone unregulated. The PGA Tour has had a fan code of conduct on paper since 2021, but enforcement has been inconsistent. The one exception is Augusta National. Augusta prohibits patrons from using phones, tablets, and cameras—rules enforced even for past champions. They cannot run anywhere on the grounds. And if anyone violates these rules, Augusta shall remove them immediately, with no second chances.

Unlike Augusta’s iron-fisted approach, most majors lack teeth. Faldo wants that to change.

“When you buy a ticket, more than likely you have to give an email address, so they know who they are. I think it should be in black and white, bold, block capital letters that if you are ejected, you will be fined ‘X’ amount—five thousand dollars or something. At Augusta, they know they will not get a ticket again. Simple as that. Maybe we need to create a ‘don’t be a d*ck’ app for our phones.” Faldo said.

Fan misconduct has a recurring pattern that has gone unnoticed

At the 2019 PGA Championship, also at Bethpage, New York, the gallery turned on Brooks Koepka. They relentlessly chanted “DEEJAY” as Dustin Johnson closed what had been a six-shot lead in the final round. A year later, a fan asked Patrick Reed to sign a shovel, and he got ejected from the Players Championship.

By 2021, hecklers at Whistling Straits targeted European Cup riders so aggressively that Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and Tony Finau had to ask the American crowd to relent mid-tournament. That same year, “Brooksie” chants aimed at Bryson DeChambeau grew so relentless, following him through Memorial, that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had to step in and instruct marshals to enforce the Tour’s fan conduct rules more strictly.

And in 2023 at Royal Liverpool, eventual Open champion Brian Harman was forced hole-to-hole by a heckler shouting that he was “going to choke.”

The thread line across years of incidents is clear. Warnings get issued, a few fans get walked out, but the behavior resurfaces at the next big event. With the PGA Tour’s two-tier competitive model aiming to raise the stakes of tournament golf, the pressure to draw a firmer line for both players and spectators is only likely to grow. How the officials aim to bring decorum to the sport remains to be seen.