Yahoo Finance Ian Poulter complains about fan rooting against him, has him removed from the course
Ian Poulter is very good at being Ian Poulter.
The English golfer who revels in trolling fans over his Ryder Cup exploits and does a standup job of turning people against him was in standard form on Thursday at the St. Jude Invitational in Memphis.
Poulter chastises fan for rooting against him
Golf Digest reports that Poulter had a spectator removed from the course because he said something Poulter didn’t like.
“It is a shame. I hope we can control it more going forward and it gets stamped out, because it is not needed in the game of golf," Poulter said of the incident.
Fan’s mundane offense
The offending party’s crime? Yelling “get in the bunker.” After Poulter’s shot was in the air.
That’s it. He didn’t say anything about Poulter’s wife. He didn’t bring up his kids. He didn’t insult his heritage.
He simply rooted against Poulter during a competitive, professional sporting event. After his swing.
Granted, nobody likes the guy in the gallery who yells tired catch phrases about mashed potatoes with every swing.
But this guy’s reported offense doesn’t even reach that mundane, repetitive level. A true pro would respond with a clever quip or say nothing at all if he can’t come up with one and continue with his golf game.
Poulter shouted back at fan
Poulter proudly recounted that he responded to the heckler "Really, you deserve to be here, do you?" before having security remove him from the course.
This is far from Poulter’s only run-in with a fan. He famously got a guy fired from his job in 2016.
Poulter tweeted at heckler’s employer
According to The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida, a heckler tweeted about his exploits telling Poulter “You will hit it in the water” and “You will not make the Ryder Cup team” during the Valspar Championship.
Poulter responded by asking tournament officials to remove him and scolding the heckler on Twitter, copying his employer Florida Southern, which was listed on his Twitter profile.
“I’m sure @FSC_Athletics & @FscSports are really proud of your professionalism,” Poulter wrote. “I wish you the very best.”
Florida Southern fired the man the following week.
Meanwhile, Ian Poulter wonders why fans don’t like him.
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