Robert MacIntyre revealed he was heckled during the second round of the BMW PGA Championship by a spectator who said he had bet against him.
The Scot carded a 69 to safely make the halfway cut at Wentworth.
But the fact he outscored Ryder Cup team-mates Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick did not go down well with a vocal fan who had a vested interest.
“The crowds were unbelievable, even though I was getting a bit of stick there coming up 17,” MacIntyre said.
“There’s obviously gambling going on in the game of golf nowadays and some people ride a lot of money on it – and, unfortunately, he lost today.”
Asked if the fan had told him he had bet against him, MacIntyre said: “Aye, he did – and he told me the amount he had riding on it.”
He revealed that “heckling on the PGA Tour” had been a subject of a chat with fellow professional Jon Rahm in recent weeks – and on Friday with his own caddie.
“It’s all about gambling nowadays and I said to Greg walking to the 18th tee ‘be switched on as this guy could throw anything at us here so keep an eye on him and do your job’,” he said.
Two fans were ejected from the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship in August for shouting at Max Homa as he took a putt on the 17th green during the third round.
The bet was apparently for just three dollars between friends and Homa said afterwards: “It was nice to make it right in the middle and hopefully he had to pay his buddy that three dollars immediately on the way out of the property.”
Speaking before the Tour Championship, Rahm said such comments were more common than most people realised.
“I feel like we hear it every single round,” the Masters champion said. “That happens way more often than you guys may hear. I mean, it’s very, very present.”