Max Homa Blasts Unruly Fan Betting on Putts During the BMW Championship

Homa did not mince words when addressing the fan who shouted in his back stroke at Olympia Fields.

Max Homa did not mince words after the third round of the BMW Championship when he addressed the unruly actions of a betting fan at Olympia Fields. 

The fan disrupted the group of Homa and Chris Kirk—who are both in contention at the FedEx Cup playoff event—on the 17th green on Saturday. 

According to Homa, the fan yelled at Kirk after missing a short putt and proceeded to shout again during Homa’s backstroke on the same green. 

The spectator apparently had a $3 bet on Homa’s putt, and the wager prompted him to attempt an interruption of play. 

“There was probably a drunk, I hope for his case, or else he's just the biggest loser there is, but he was cheering and yelling at Chris for missing his putt short, and he kept yelling that he had—one of them had $3 for me to make mine, and I got to the back of my back stroke, and he yelled, ‘pull it’ pretty loud, and I made it right in the middle, and then I just started yelling at him, and then Joe yelled at him,” Homa said. 

In response, Homa’s caddie, Joe Greiner, joined his player in telling the fan off. 

“[We yelled] that he's a clown, with maybe another word. I don't know what Joe yelled. He was a lot meaner, I think. It just was—I don't know. Long day, I guess. Hope he has a nice night, but it just sucks when that happens, but I was happy I made it. It was rude what he did to Chris. Whatever,” Homa said. 

Live betting is a recent development in professional golf, and Homa admitted that incidents such as this one at the BMW Championship give him pause about the practice.

“I love that people can gamble on golf, but that is the one thing I'm worried about. He didn't care that—I don't know what he had to lose. He got kicked out probably, and we were the last group,” Homa said. 

“It's just always something that's on your mind. It's on us to stay focused or whatever, but it's just annoying when it happens. It just feels—it's like the one thing we have in this game, fans are so great about being quiet when we play. I think they are awesome. When anybody ever talks, it's so unintentional. They don't know we're hitting.

“It just sucks when it's incredibly intentional, and his friend specifically said it was for $3, so that was—not that the money matters, but that's a frustrating number,” he continued. 

Homa birdied the 17th hole amidst the disruption, and ultimately posted a 1-over 71. He finished the day at 9 under for the tournament in solo fourth place, two shots off Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler’s lead.