Since the news that Phil Mickelson has been rumored involved with a known gambler and has gambled away millions, the question of gambling now crossing with golf has come into question.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy thinks that it is a slippery slope when gamblers show up on the golf course heckling golfers during matches.
Such an incident happened with Max Homa at the BMW Championship that raised eyebrows.
Homa and playing partner Chris Kirk were harassed by a fan shouting at them to miss putts, presumably related to bets he had made.
Homa seemed to be worried about the incident.
“I love that people can gamble on golf,” Homa said at the BMW. “But that is the one thing I’m worried about.”
McIlroy shares the same concern of gamblers influencing play on the course.
“We’ve talked about this at the board and the PAC level for a few years. And it is a bit of a slippery slope because I don’t think there’s any — maybe basketball and you can sit courtside, but I think it’s a different environment where people can really affect the play out here,” McIlroy said Wednesday.
“So, look, as long as it’s policed the right way and as long as there’s measures put in place for hopefully things like what happened to Max Homa last Saturday not to happen,” McIlroy continued. “We’re all for people out here having a good time and being able to put something on an outcome, but as long as they don’t feel like they can come here and influence that outcome, I think that’s important.”
Jon Rahm also expressed his concerns.
“I think the Tour maybe should look into it because you don’t want it to get out of hand,” he said.“I feel like we hear it every single round.” “That happens way more often than you guys may hear. I mean, it’s very, very present.”
It will be interesting to see how the PGA Tour will handle this going forward.
{Golf.com}
