Ian Poulter had a stellar Thursday in Memphis, Tenn., carding a 4-under 66 during the opening round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. His afternoon ended on a bitter note, though.
Immediately after hitting his second shot on the 18th hole, a fan yelled "get in the bunker," according to Sky Sports. A visibly irritated Poulter responded by saying "really" to the spectator, and after they exchanged words, he questioned whether the fan deserved to be at the course.
"I get it," Poulter said. "I am an Englishman, I play on the Ryder Cup team. I am sure I have upset a few of those guys from time to time when they are watching television.
"But when we are playing a world class event like we do week in week out and you have got guys like that, that are in a small group, they want to feel big in front of their friends and they scream silly things out, it is disappointing."
Poulter has represented Europe at the Ryder Cup six times and has been on the losing end of the event just once. He playfully trolled the Americans after Europe's victory in 2018.
Poulter proceeded to make a par on the final hole, and said the fan was escorted out by security.
"I hate to do that, but why should we be abused in this day and age?" he added.
This wasn't Poulter's first run-in with a fan, as he said he was verbally abused during the Players Championship back in March.
"We have got a WGC tournament, it is a great field, and it is a great purse," he added about Thursday's incident. "It has got everything that we want to come and compete apart from one idiot who decides to be silly.
"So, it is a shame. I hope going forward we can control it more and more and it gets stamped out. It is not needed in the game of golf."
