Gambling is becoming a growing problem, not only among athletes but also among fans who watch the games. As a result, the PGA Tour is updating its fan code of conduct to address concerns about sports betting and better manage disruptive crowd behavior.
According to Front Office Sports, the PGA Tour is stepping up measures to better limit disruptions to its events after several players voiced concerns during the 2026 season about the impact of sports betting on professional golf.
“We are concerned about fans interacting with our players in a negative manner, and certainly the potential for fans to try to impact the competition in some way,” PGA Tour senior VP of tournament administration Andy Levinson said at the Tour Championship.
PGA Tour VP of gaming Scott Warfield said sports betting-related incidents accounted for less than 5% of ejections at PGA Tour tournaments this year. However, the PGA Tour says it is still developing new tools to help track and monitor online fan discussion about athletes they have wagered on.
“One is one too many for us and it’s why we spent the summer talking to players getting their feedback on this, leading to some of the stuff we’re looking at for 2027 with the tracking of harassing comments that usually start on the course, go online, or vice versa,” he said.
Golfers are worried that sports betting will make fans misbehave
Among the concerns voiced by players like Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick is the possibility of a fan wagering on an event and then disrupting a player’s shot. Case in point: in February, a content creator paid a fan $100 to yell during the backswing of a golfer.
The PGA Tour is also planning on training volunteers to better identify and report fans causing problems. Recently, at the BMW Championship, a fan shouted during a golfer’s tee shot. In a video captured by a spectator at the event, a group of four police officers had to physically drag the fan away from the course.
“We are trying to take as many steps as we can,” Levinson said. “At the same time, if you’ve got 10,000 people standing around a green and somebody decides to blurt something out, those things are really hard to control. So, we do rely on decorum a little bit at golf tournaments. In some markets we’ve seen that deteriorate.”