Rickie Fowler furiously hit out at a spectator during the third round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, as the American let out his frustrations on the 16th tee.
Fowler has failed to find his best form at TPC Sawgrass this week, but the American did make it to the weekend and was one of the early starters in Saturday's third round. Stood on the 16th tee at one-over-par for the tournament, Fowler's caddie Ricky Romano reminded fans to put their phones on silent.
One in particular however did not seem to adhere, and whilst Fowler striped his tee shot down the centre, he had been put off by the fan in question and angrily confronted them.
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Pointing a finger to the gallery, Fowler cried: "You! What are you doing?” Before his caddie, Romano added: "Come on, I just said something.” The confrontation appeared to then throw off Fowler completely, as despite splitting the fairway with his drive, disaster soon followed.
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The PGA Tour star hit not one, but two shots from the fairway into the water down the right-hand side of the hole in a moment to forget for the 35-year-old. On the back of two penalty drops, Fowler did go on to show a glimpse of brilliance, after hitting his sixth shot within six inches of the hole.
Fowler eventually finished the hole with a double bogey seven, before ending his third round two pars at the par-three 17th and par-four 18th. That saw the world No. 33 sign for a disappointing four-over-par 76, leaving him at three-over for the tournament with 18 holes to play.
Fowler has failed to rediscover the form that saw him recapture his golf game in 2023, having failed to break into the top-30 in any of his seven PGA Tour starts this year, with his best a tie for 35th at the Genesis Invitational last month. Having found himself outside the world's top-100 this time last year, the American surged back into form, landing his first victory in over four years at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last June.
He had been strongly linked with following in the footsteps of Jon Rahm to LIV Golf late last year, but Fowler opted to remain loyal to the PGA Tour despite the lure of a mega-money contract. The American featured heavily in the recently-released second season of Netflix's Full Swing, and squashed any chance of him making the Saudi switch.
Despite the remarkable amounts on offer, Fowler revealed his motivation lies with winning PGA Tour titles, telling the Netflix cameras: "[Joining LIV] wasn't the best choice for me. I'm not out there playing for a pay check, I'm out there playing to compete with the best players in the world and I believe the Tour is the best place to be. I'd like to see it continue to be like that."
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