A three-dollar bet almost completely changed the outcome of the $20 million BMW Championship on Saturday at Olympia Fields Country Club.
A golf spectator yelled while Max Homa was hitting a birdie putt on the 17th green because, according to PGA officials, he was hoping to affect the shot in order to win a bet.
Homa was lining up a five-footer when a man started chastising his playing partner, Chris Kirk, after Kirk missed a 17-foot birdie putt. The same person then yelled “pull it” as Home hit his shot, though the pro golfer nailed it dead center before saving par to finish one-over 71 on the day.
Kirk finished with a 75 on the day, falling off of the pace set by Homa.
“There was a probably drunk, I hope for his case, or else he’s just the biggest loser there is,” Homa said, “but he was cheering and yelling at Chris for missing his putt short, and he kept yelling that he had … one of them had $3 for me to make mine, and I got to the back of my backstroke, and he yelled, ‘pull it’ pretty loud, and I made it right in the middle. And then I just started yelling at him, and then Joe [Greiner, his caddie] yelled at him.”
Homa said that he yelled back at the fan, saying that he was a clown.
“I don’t know what Joe yelled. He was a lot meaner, I think,” Homa added. “It just was, I don’t know. Long day, I guess. Hope he has a nice night, but it just sucks when that happens, but I was happy I made it. It was rude what he did to Chris.”
Homa added that while he’s happy people can bet on golf, but he does have concerns about people trying to impact the outcome of a match in order to win their bets.
“I love that people can gamble on golf, but that is the one thing I’m worried about,” Homa said. “He didn’t care that … I don’t know what he had to lose. He got kicked out probably.
“It’s just always something that’s on your mind. It’s on us to stay focused or whatever, but it’s just annoying when it happens. It just feels … it’s like the one thing we have in this game, fans are so great about being quiet when we play. I think they are awesome. When anybody ever talks, it’s so unintentional. They don’t know we’re hitting. It just sucks when it’s incredibly intentional, and his friend specifically said it was for $3, so that was … not that the money matters, but that’s a frustrating number.”
[Golf Digest]
