>Agreed. In fact, I read somewhere that this is what they do at
>the Masters: you act stupid and they remove you from the grounds,
>no excuses, no second chances. Can anyone who has actually attended
>confirm or deny this?
that this is indeed a fact. This also raises one of the issues that may be a
factor in recent crowd problems at Professional tournaments (especially in North
America). As everyone knows the Masters limits the size of the galleries; so
much so that it is the hardest ticket in all of sports to obtain. With smaller
galleries, crowd control is much easier for tournament officials.
Unfortunately the same can't be said for the regular weekly stops on tour. With
the increase of both stadium courses and the over-all costs involved in staging
tournaments, gallery numbers have increased dramatically. Most of the courses
these tournaments are played on have the areas around the greens designed so
that huge numbers of people can surround them and everyone able to see
adequately. Most of the eigh***th greens are designed with a "bowl effect that
will accommodate the same number of people as a major outdoor sports stadium
(not to mention the permanent bleachers and luxury boxes that have been
constructed at many venues.
Increased numbers, newer and less knowledgeable fans, & beer make for a bad
combination for the pro and their concentration.
The most disgraceful display of these problems occurred at the Phoenix Open.
Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard went into a playoff. The last round was held
on the Saturday to accommodate the Superbowl (played in Phoenix) and it seemed
more like a football crowd than a golf crowd. The majority of the gallery where
rooting for Phil because of his Arizona connection. The cheered wildly for Phil
and would yell wildly right at the moment of impact on his tee shots. The 3 or
4 sudden death holes that were played were obviously un-nerving for Justin and
every second shot of Phil's was a recovery shot. It was a disgrace to the
sport.
(Sorry to any Phoenix residents: but it was a disgrace)