Matt Fitzpatrick fears that gamblers will seek to influence golf tournaments by heckling players on the course.
At a point when the sport is urgently seeking to get galleries back under control after unsavoury scenes at the Ryder Cup and last month’s US Open, Fitzpatrick has identified how the gambling industry could be part of the issue.
The Englishman, who is among the favourites at The Open this week, said: ‘For me, it’s definitely becoming a problem and the issue is, particularly in golf, it would be very easy to influence a bet, whether it’s you’re shouting on someone’s backswing, shouting on a putting stroke.
‘It’s really easy. Obviously that is hard to monitor, but it is definitely an issue.’
Commenting more generally on gambling-related abuse in golf, which has recently surfaced as a talking point in the sport, Fitzpatrick added: ‘Just look at all the messages people get – footballers, tennis players, you name it, everyone’s getting messages of, “Oh, you missed that penalty; you cost me this. Oh, you didn’t make a birdie; cost me this”.
‘I’ve had my fair share. I would say every golfer that’s played a professional tournament has had a message of abuse from someone that is related to gambling. I mean, you could see it this week.
Matt Fitzpatrick fears that gamblers will seek to influence golf tournaments by heckling players
‘You go and type in a player’s name who maybe isn’t playing well, maybe someone who’s favoured to play well, and you’ll just see their name followed by abuse after abuse after abuse.
‘It’s difficult because I’ve had 20 quid on England to win the World Cup, but at the same time, if it doesn’t come in, I’m not going to send a message to Harry Kane and be like, “Why did you play rubbish?” There’s obviously individuals that have that problem.’
