Rory McIlroy rightly calls out drunken fools at PGA TOUR events

Rory McIlroy is fed up with some of the wild antics from fans at PGA TOUR stops. His solution? Limit – or even stop – alcohol sales at the course. He might not be wrong.

Rory McIlroy is used to being yelled at on the golf course. It comes with the territory of being one of the most popular, most recognizable, one of the best players on earth. But as with all things, there’s a line. And it sounds like the former World No. 1 is ready to help figure out how to stop it.

"“There was one guy out there who kept yelling my wife’s name,” said McIlroy. “I was going to go over and have a chat with him. I don’t know, I think it’s gotten a little much, to be honest. I think that they need to limit the alcohol sales on the course, or they need to do something because every week it seems like guys are complaining about it more and more."

It’s a thought that will have tournament organizers and financiers everywhere tugging uncomfortably at their collars, but at the end of the day, one fact remains.

Rory is right.

He went on to acknowledge that he wants fans to be able to come out and have a good time, but that pulling back on the “liquid courage” might make for a better environment for everybody. And not every tournament needs to be the Phoenix Open party.

"“It’s obviously a lot of tournaments see how successful Phoenix is and they want to try to replicate that, which is great,” said McIlroy. “It’s great for the tournament; it’s great for us. But golf is different than a football game, and there’s etiquette involved. You don’t want people to be put off from bringing their kids when people are shouting stuff out. You want people to enjoy themselves, have a good day.”"

Is there a way to strike a fair balance between fans’ enjoyment and the comfort of those inside the ropes?

There’s the key, of course. Sure, there are plenty of idiots out there who just want to pound Miller Lite until they can’t see straight and yell “mashed potatoes” – or is it “dilly dilly” now? – all day. And at most tournaments, you aren’t necessarily able to stop that. There’s too many people, and unless you’re Augusta National, escorting those people off the premises is just too much work.

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Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe that alcohol alone is to blame for some of the issues that guys like Rory and Justin Thomas have had in recent weeks. But it sure doesn’t hurt the situation, either.

There are really only two instances where alcohol becomes a problem – when fans, especially kids, need to deal with drunken fools, and when it impedes on a player’s ability to do his job.

The fan situation is easy to deal with. But when a player calls out a fan, far too often he’s labelled as being “thin-skinned”.

Here’s a concept: cut off all alcohol sales when the final pairing tees off each day. Maybe 30 minutes before, even. By the time the leaders are coming down the stretch, people will have had some time to sober up. Perhaps the worst of them will even look for a nice, shady tree to take a nap under. Sounds like a win-win, right?

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I don’t expect anything will change on this anytime soon, but perhaps as players start addressing offenders more directly, we’ll see the TOUR step in and make some changes.