Golf may be called a gentlemen’s game, but it so often doesn’t present itself that way. If its design to bring out your flaws and make you lose wasn’t enough, there are always critics. And one golfer who somehow finds himself around confident crowd chirpers is Rickie Fowler. The 2025 season has not been the best for the Californian with only one top-10 finish in 14 starts and seven sponsor exemptions this year, including the PGA Championship. But if you think hecklers around him have only spoken to him in his lows, let us prove you wrong. In fact, it was Fowler’s one of those better seasons when he had to confront a person in the crowd; but there were no fiery words exchanged, just a shrug and a plain, simple response.

In the 2023 US Open, a day after recording an event-low 8-under 62 along with Xander Schauffele, Fowler was leading the event by a stroke over fellow American Wyndham Clark. But on the seventh hole par-3, he left the putt short and settled for a bogey. Just then, someone from the gallery yelled at him, “What are you doing?” Turning to him, the six-time PGA Tour winner simply shrugged and said, “I don’t know.” He went on to make a perfect putt to keep his lead at -11. Fowler ended up tied for fifth at the Los Angeles Country Club eventually. But getting heckled?

That hasn’t left the golfer whose rather shiny resume boasting 6 PGA Tour wins, including Players and 8 appearances on the U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams always fall short in the eyes of his critics. Something similar happened to him once again at the Travelers Championship. You see, Connecticut was another disappointing outing for the golfer, finishing T36 after 72 holes. But it wasn’t his game that grabbed the most attention, but his instance with a heckler. While Fowler was putting during the last round, someone shouted, “Nice lag putt.” In response, Fowler turned to the fan in the stands and smiled for a few seconds, staring at him. He then said, “It is easy to say from over there, buddy.”

Many of the spectators cheered Fowler on for putting the heckler in his place and for not letting the comments made by him be forgotten that easily. With his performances not reaching the mark everyone is expecting, Fowler is likely under a lot of pressure. He is currently outside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings and is also not slated to make the Team USA squad for the Ryder Cup. The frustrations seem to be getting the better of him, as this is not the first time this season that Fowler was involved in a heckling incident with a spectator. Another eerily similar situation had unfolded in the 2025 Cognizant Classic.

At the PGA National, Fowler had an 18-foot putt for birdie at the par-4 16th hole during the third round. This was a tricky putt, nearly all players missing to the right. Fowler also made the same mistake, with his ball hitting the edge of the cup before rolling away. One fan started laying into the PGA Tour Pro about the putt, and Fowler clapped back. While walking after his ball, he looked at the fan in the grandstands. “Of course you know. That’s why you’re in the stands.” Fowler ended up finishing the event at T18 with a total score of 12 under par, just seven strokes away from eventual winner Joe Highsmith.

However, it isn’t that only Fowler gets caught in such back-and-forth with the spectators. Even Rory McIlroy was involved in a heckler-related incident earlier this season at the TPC Sawgrass.

Rory McIlroy dealt with his heckler differently

For the reigning Masters winner, we all know he likes to choose his words carefully before saying something he would regret later. But as it turns out, when he comes across loud mouths, he still opts for his best weapon- silence. At the TPC Sawgrass, that’s exactly what happened.

“Just like the 2011 Masters,” one of the hecklers shouted while McIlroy was taking practice shots. After his shot, McIlroy walked to the person who turned out to be NCAA golfer Luke Potter, and said, “Can I see your phone?” When the young golfer obliged, McIlroy grabbed his phone and walked away.

Luke Potter had to write an apology letter to McIlroy, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, PGA Tour University director Brendan von Doehren, and UNF coach Scott Schroeder, whose program hosts the Hayt, where Potter was competing the day before, and helps participants get Players tickets for the day after.

So would you rather see hecklers being handled in Rory’s way or was Fowler’s reaction during all the situations the correct way? Do you think he should have ignored the hecklers?