Zach Johnson has denied that his foul-mouthed rant during his second round at the Masters on Friday was directed at a group of spectators at the 12th hole.
Johnson endured a difficult week at Augusta National, as he carded a disappointing three-over-par 75 in the second round to leave him seven-over for the tournament. The biggest blemish on his card came at the par-three 12th on Friday, as windy conditions made the Georgia course an even harder test.
The 2007 champion saw his tee shot on the par-three sail way left into the azalea bushes, before his reloaded effort from the tee box sailed right wide of the green.
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A chip onto the putting surface then followed, before two-putting for triple bogey. In the aftermath, Johnson was heard shouting 'f*** off', with reports suggesting it was in the direction of a group of spectators watching the action. Having signed for his 78 later on, Johnson was quizzed on the run-in but appeared none-the-wiser.
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"I swore at the patrons? That's laughable," he said post-round. "That's completely laughable. I can't hear the patrons, number one. Number two, I just made a triple bogey on the 12th hole that evidently is going to make me miss the cut, which at the time I knew was pretty sensitive in the sense that I needed to keep making pars."
The former United States Ryder Cup captain went on to admit any expletives would have been directed at himself, adding: "If I've said anything, which I'm not going to deny, especially if it's on camera, one, I apologise, and two, it was fully directed towards myself entirely because I can't hear anything behind me. Does that make sense?"
The Ryder Cup captain appeared to drop the F-bomb at the crowd (@TheMasters)Johnson has been no stranger to clashing with spectators in recent months, after the former green jacket winner was seen engaging with a group at February's Phoenix Open. Scenes at the TPC Scottsdale event became unsavoury, after the PGA Tour's often-dubbed 'party event' boiled over amid excessive drinking in the stands.
Condemning the Phoenix atmosphere at the time, he said: "At some point - I don't know what the line is, but you have people falling out of the rafters, you have fights in the stands. It's to the point where now, how do you reel it in? Because it's taken on a life of its own. I think the Thunderbirds probably need to do something about it.
"I'm assuming they're ashamed. Because at some point, somebody's either going to really, really get hurt or worse. You've got a woman falling down 20 feet."
Johnson was asked about his run-in at the Phoenix Open in the aftermath of his Masters rant on Friday, admitting he intervened with fans after a group were excessively drinking.
"I'm not on social media, haven't been for months, maybe even close to a year," he commented, I was shown a video. I think I know which one it was because it happened multiple times where I interjected. But when I see vomiting and then guys egging on the guy to drink another beer with a middle school golf team to my right, I'm going to say something as an adult."
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