Philly fans heckled Scottie Scheffler with Cowboys jokes at the PGA Championship, and he took it in stride. But a bizarre interruption on Friday at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson, whose purse for this year is $10.3 M, had nothing funny about it.

The incident occurred on Friday afternoon while Scheffler played in a featured group with Brooks Koepka and Si Woo Kim. Video shared on X by Jake Ryan (@the.jakeyannn) showed a guy wearing sunglasses, shorts, and a T-shirt with something written on it, sprinting around the side of the green while shouting to get the World No. 1’s attention. Officials grounded him after he tried to evade a volunteer.

McKinney Police later confirmed they removed the fan from the tournament and released them. The incident stung because Scheffler won this event last year and is defending his title well this season, currently sitting at T2 after R2.

The golfer hasn’t addressed the incident yet, nor has it affected his game. Scheffler shot 8-under 63 in R2, with four straight birdies (Nos. 11-14) on the back nine. The round moved him to 13-under overall, tied for second and five behind Si Woo Kim’s tournament-leading 18-under.

Fan behavior at golf events has been a recurring conversation this season, and it didn’t start in McKinney.

McIlroy’s frustrating final round at Aronimink culminated in an angry exchange with a fan after a “U-S-A!” shout. McIlroy was 1-under through 16. He birdied No. 2, bogeyed No. 13, then birdied the par-3 14th. Two shots behind, he needed a late rally, but his chip on 16 came up short. A spectator shouted, and McIlroy responded visibly.

The CBS broadcast caught him telling the fan to “shut the f–k up.”

Well, Scottie Scheffler wasn’t spared at Aronimink either. During Saturday’s third round, a fan shouted, “Dak Prescott s—-” as he stood over a putt, and someone in a full eagle mask was spotted in his gallery, too. The jokes came less from golf and more from football, as the 29-year-old is a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan and has a great rivalry with the Eagles, whose hometown is Philly, where the PGA Championship was held.

The problem of crowds in golf is not new, and history continues to repeat itself.

When fans cross the line: Golf’s long history of crowd trouble

At TPC Sawgrass, the gallery booed Fitzpatrick off the 18th after he bogeyed away his late lead to Cameron Young. Although he wasn’t bothered much and called it “child’s play” compared to what he dealt with at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, where the crowd was completely different.

McIlroy also faced disruption. During Friday’s second round, fans on the 4th shouted for his ball to find water. Although they were removed from the course immediately, the damage had already been done.

None of this is unfamiliar territory for golf. At the 2010 Players Championship, a drunk spectator disrupted play, and police physically removed ignored officials. It didn’t stop there. He was tasered and arrested before the situation was fully under control.

From 2010 to 2026, incidents have escalated in frequency and severity. A drunk man at TPC Sawgrass. Nationalist chants at Aronimink. A fan in an eagle mask at the same venue. And now someone is sprinting across the green at TPC Craig Ranch. The pattern is clear, and now the bigger question is about where crowd enthusiasm ends and interference begins.