It was a scene you wouldn’t suppose twice about if it was occurring in entrance of certainly one of New York’s notoriously rowdy galleries at Bethpage Black or Shinnecock Hills.
However a former Masters winner getting heated with the patrons at Augusta is a uncommon — maybe unprecedented(?) — sight.
That was till Saturday, when 2007 inexperienced jacket-winner Zach Johnson exploded on the patrons in a heated second on the iconic twelfth gap.
Watch each spherical of The Masters LIVE & Unique on Fox Sports activities, out there on Kayo. New to Kayo? Begin Your Free Trial At the moment >
LIVE MASTERS LEADERBOARD: Dechambeau leads after first spherical
‘F**Okay OFF’: Ex-champ’s wild spray as stars implode amid Tiger miracle — Masters LIVE
‘Pack of smokes’ vest and ‘MC Hammer pants’: Day’s edgy Masters look units web ablaze
Johnson was scrambling to make the lower when a triple-bogey on the picturesque par-three successfully assured that he wouldn’t.
The American fired his tee shot nicely over the inexperienced and to the left, forcing him to take a penalty and hit his tee shot once more. This time, it went nicely proper.
Johnson then chipped on and two-putted, together with his remaining shot being met with what was seemingly sarcastic cheers from some patrons.
Johnson didn’t take kindly to the transfer, and was heard clearly over the microphone saying “oh, f**okay off.”
Day talks via “robust” circumstances | 02:28
The outburst might simply be put all the way down to heat-of-the-moment frustration, as anybody who has swung a membership would perceive.
However questions might be requested across the dwindling recognition of the two-time major-winner off the again of America’s doomed 2023 Ryder Cup marketing campaign.
Johnson was Crew USA’s captain for the large loss in Rome, the place he got here underneath heavy hearth for his crew alternatives.
Controversial omissions of in-form gamers, reminiscent of Keegan Bradley, Cameron Younger and Lucas Glover, and the number of recognized associates to robotically certified gamers — reminiscent of Sam Burns, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth — raised suspicions of a ‘boy’s membership’ throughout the crew.
Johnson has been the goal of hecklers since, with one video of a feisty interplay with followers on the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale re-emerging on Saturday.
“Oh don’t ‘sir’ me. Anyone stated it. I’m simply sick of it,” he might be heard saying. “Simply shut up.”
Barstool Sports activities’ Bobby Reagan didn’t maintain again when running a blog in regards to the wild second Johnson misplaced his cool on 12.
“This f***ing man. I by no means felt a particular approach about Zach Johnson, that’s till the Ryder Cup. I used to be furious at Zach Johnson through the Ryder Cup. Then Scottsdale occurred,” he wrote.
“Now we’re speaking about 12 at Augusta … It’s a peaceful place that doesn’t really feel like actual life if you’re there. And Zach Johnson can’t deal with clapping. Clapping!
“That is simply getting unhappy … It appears pathetic. Throwing a hissy match like this at 12 if you missed the putts.”
In the meantime, the poor performances of a few of Johnson’s captain’s picks at this 12 months’s Masters has solely put him within the highlight additional.
Spieth and Burns had been each lower at a distant nine-over, whereas Rickie Fowler solely scraped via at six-over.
Younger was one-under, Glover was even-par, whereas Keegan Bradley made the lower at five-over.