The U.S. Open At Bethpage Black, Sponsored By Happy Gilmore

The New York galleries are so lively, we've heard all week. They're great for golf, and the players love it! Turns out, it's all just a euphemism for "New Yorkers like to get tanked and heckle Tiger Woods."

You see, when it's pouring rain, you're nearing your 10th hour on a golf course, Tiger's not in contention at the one tournament you paid to see and the grounds sell beer, you drink. And when you do that in New York, you heckle Tiger Woods and Fred Funk because, hey, why the hell not? But golf fans aren't known for their heckling. They're supposed to be silent and then explode with "Get in the hole!" and "You the man!" That got a bit tiresome after a while. So did the insults.

"We're on Long Island, baby, where men are men!" one fan yelled. "Put that umbrella down!"

The taunts were mixed with cheers from the majority of the crowd. Woods did not respond to the people who were heckling him but tried to quiet the crowd with a "sshh" hand gesture, putting his finger to his lips, as golfers prepared to tee off on the adjacent 12th tee.

"Suck it up, you've got your own video game!" someone shouted at Woods.

...

Minutes later, a group of fans greeted Fred Funk at the 10th hole by shouting his last name as an obscenity.

A little earlier, drunken fans at the seventh hole shouted at golfers, "This Bud's for you!" On the ninth fairway, drunks called out "you suck" to players while spectators on the other side booed the hecklers.

Really? That's all you got? We're on Long Island, where men are men?

This, Neil Best argues, makes golf like any other sporting event when fans get drunk and yell at players. Except when you're not clever, you're just that guy sitting in the corner, yelling at people. And nobody likes one of those.

Tiger Woods taunted at 10th hole [Newsday] Bethpage Black drunks only doing what many fans do [Watchdog]