As he prepared for The Open Championship this week in his native England, Matt Fitzpatrick shared his thoughts on how gambling influences fan behavior at golf tournaments.
“It’s a great question because you just look at all the messages people get — footballers, tennis players, you name it, everyone’s getting messages of, ‘Oh, you missed that penalty; you cost me this. Oh, you didn’t make a birdie; cost me this,’ ” Fitzpatrick told reporters Monday at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport.
“I’ve had my fair share. I would say every golfer that’s played a professional tournament has had a message of abuse from someone that is related to gambling. I mean, you could see it this week. You go and type in a player’s name who maybe isn’t playing well, maybe someone who’s favored to play well, you type the name into Twitter and you’ll just see their name followed by abuse after abuse after abuse.”
Fitzpatrick, 31, enters the 154th Open as one of the hottest golfers on the planet, a three-time winner this season on the PGA Tour and ranked No. 3 in the world.
“Hopefully I’ve not peaked yet obviously, but I just think I’m doing a lot of good stuff this year. Short game’s been really, really good, and so has my irons,” he said.
“That’s a first for me. My irons have never really been a strength. I’ve had good seasons but never really taken advantage of that, I don’t feel like; whereas now I feel like I’ve got that.”
The 2022 U.S. Open champion tied for third on Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open and is looking to improve on his best finish in The Open after tying for fourth place last year at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
Fitzpatrick said he doesn’t “condone gambling in the slightest … it’s not really for me,” other than participating in friendly World Cup wagers with his mates.
“I’ve had 20 quid on England to win the World Cup, but at the same time, if it doesn’t come in, I’m not going to send a message to Harry Kane and be like, why did you play rubbish? There’s obviously individuals that have that problem,” he said.
“… For me, it’s definitely becoming a problem and the issue is, particularly in golf, 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.”
Fitzpatrick mentioned he usually stays off social media but is fully aware of the negativity present.
“You just search my name, Tommy’s (Fleetwood) name, anyone’s name, and you will find just tweet after tweet just straight abuse,” he said. “It’s not right. I’m not going into someone’s office or in their e-mails abusing them. I would say a lot of it comes down to the gambling. You see that a lot on the social media of, oh, this guy’s favored this week. Make sure you lump on him. …
“But when you’re getting personally attacked, it’s just ridiculous.”
