Bryson DeChambeau is golf’s greatest villain, as the world’s 7th ranked player is about as polarizing a figure as the sport has ever seen. Once best known for being the young, nerdy science guy on Tour, DeChambeau is now on the leading edge of golf’s obsession with length, bulking up with one goal in mind: hit the golf ball farther than anyone ever.
The results are hard to argue with, as he’s won twice on this extended wraparound season and enters the Tour Championship second in FedEx Cup points. However, he has also ruffled feathers along the way, becoming a posterchild for slow play and his grating personality has led to a well-publicized feud with Brooks Koepka — which Bryson contributed to early on in his bulking phase by taking shots at Brooks’ physique. Brooks has made his stance on Bryson very clear, as he’s not a fan of The Big Golfer, and their beef has led to fans picking sides, with a lopsided amount of support for Koepka.
Over recent months, hecklers have taken to yelling “Brooksy” at DeChambeau, which on the sliding scale of sports heckles is fairly innocuous, even if childish and silly. Bryson at first shrugged it off, even trying to embrace it and say it doesn’t bother him, it has ultimately worn on him. The culmination came on Sunday, when after he lost a six-hole playoff to Patrick Cantlay to the delight of the Baltimore area fans at Caves Valley, he finally snapped back at a fan, telling him to “get the f*ck out” after the latest “Brooksy” taunt (via ESPN’s Kevin Van Valkenburg).
Two days later, the PGA Tour has decided enough is enough and will now kick fans out who yell “Brooksy” at Bryson, which seems like a rather steep punishment for a non-vulgar taunt.
Yelling or saying, "Brooksie" to Bryson DeChambeau will now be considered disrespectful from now on can result in expulsion from a tournament. This directly from Commissioner Jay Monahan. It's become an issue of being disrespectful to the players and the game.
— Michael Collins (@ESPNCaddie) August 31, 2021
All of this is part of golf’s battle with itself, as they want so badly to expand their fanbase to a younger generation while also maintaining the unwritten rules of etiquette that have long been a part of the game within the country club crowd. It’s hard to imagine this doing much beyond leading fans to finding something new to yell at Bryson — or fans just accepting an ejection from a tournament once they’ve enjoyed enough beverages.
