PGA Tour Increases Security, Blames Sports Betting
David Genge Published 15/09/2026
Concerns about the impact of sports betting expressed by players have led to the PGA Tour increasing security measures for the 2027 season. Tour players, including Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick, both cited this as a problem this season, leading to increasingly unruly behavior from fans at PGA Tour tournaments. They specifically blamed the boorish behaviour of some fans on the uptick in sports betting across the USA.
In response, PGA Tour officials are invoking new security measures that will be implemented beginning with the 2027 season. Course volunteers will get upgraded training on how to handle situations involving unruly spectators, and player and fan engagement will be limited.
PGA Tour Unveils Security Upgrades
PGA Tour officials admit that there is worry over the increase in negative fan interactions with players. That concern is what is resulting in the increased security measures that the Tour is introducing.
"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," Senior VP of tournament administration, Andy Levinson, said at the Tour Championship, according to reporting by Front Office Sports.
In an effort to better control poor behavior from fans, the PGA Tour is upgrading the level of training given to volunteers who will patrol the galleries at PGA Tour events. They will be given the responsibility of identifying fans causing problems, and then reporting those unruly fans to the proper authorities.
"We have an ambassador program, which is a group of volunteers that is being trained to be amongst the crowds and look for certain types of behavior and then notify security," Levinson said
The PGA Tour's fan code of conduct is also being revamped to provide better direction on what level of behavior is to be strictly prohibited among fans attending tournaments.
"We’ve put a lot of effort into that," Levinson said.
Tour officials admit that this will be a hard policy to police
Certainly, they hope to crack down on boorish fan behavior. However, PGA Tour officials know it will be easier said than done.
"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."
PGA Tour players blame sports betting for this issue
Some PGA Tour players are quite outspoken about the need to rein in unruly fans at events. A couple of them specifically pointed the finger of blame at sports betting.
Jordan Spieth blamed sports betting for the catcalling that was directed at eventual champion Wyndham Clark during the U.S. Open
“In golf it’s tricky because you could actually impact the outcome if you wanted to," Spieth told Golf.com. "It may not last very long, but you could impact a shot if you wanted to.
"I don’t know of another sport that you could impact as a fan like you can golf. So I don’t know how much that’s having to do with it, if it’s different than it used to be.”
Matt Fitzpatrick also addressed the issue in the United Kingdom at the Open Championship.
“For me, it's definitely becoming a problem, and the issue is, particularly in golf," Fitzpatrick said. "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 really hard to monitor, but it is definitely an issue.”
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