SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — You figured with a scaled-down fan presence, an on-course incident would be a long shot this year at TPC Scottsdale.
But this is Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open we’re talking about here.
About 5,000 fans per day are being allowed on site, creating some long-awaited fan atmosphere at a PGA Tour event. But one fan, dressed like Borat, simply took things too far late in the third round.
It started when Jordan Spieth, fresh off a thrilling birdie bomb on the 16th green, was sizing up another long birdie putt on 17. He was kneeling down, with his back to the lake that wraps around the left side of the green when Borat start chirping up.
Spieth noticed and even turned in his kneeling position to acknowledge him, clapping a little bit while looking over. He also noticed something else.
“Yeah, the guy’s chair broke, and so it broke and he fell backwards and everyone went nuts. We were all laughing,” he said.
Spieth was facing a 29-foot, 5-inch putt for birdie, and he drained it and the fans erupted.
“When I made it, I was pointing at him,” Spieth said, looking across the water.
The Borat look-alike, wearing a tan jacket and tan shorts, aviator-style sunglasses, presumably a wig but also going barefoot, kept up his antics. At one point, he appeared to be taking off his jacket. A nearby security guard was right there and soon a Scottsdale police officer arrived.
Spieth and his caddie, Michael Greller, continued to watch the antics of the fan, who turned and took a few steps, almost falling into a group of fans dressed like Masters caddies.
Finally, Borat tried to go under a rope and security at that point had seen enough. They grabbed his arm and hauled him away.
“I didn’t realize he was getting arrested at the time because I hadn’t seen him since he fell out of the chair,” Spieth said. “I looked up and he was getting arrested, so when I pointed at him it got him going even more, which was not the plan. I thought he was going to just yell louder.
“Then they wanted him to jump in the water and then he was trying to and resisting. I don’t know what happened overall. I felt horrible that Billy (Horschel, Spieth’s playing partner) still had to putt when that was happening in his through-line. That wasn’t my intention.”
Horschel two-putted for par and then talked about what he saw after his round.
“I tell you what, it’s nice to have fans back out. The energy that we all feel from them and we all sort of feed off,” he said. “Jordan did an unbelievable job of that. It’s nice to have applause. Yeah, it’s a little rowdy here which we’re normally used to, and it was funny to see the guy break the chair. I don’t know why he got kicked out. I was focused on my putt.”
Spieth wasn’t exactly sure about the chair either, other than it broke in plain view of everyone on the green.
“I thought he was just standing out of the chair that he was sitting in when it broke,” Spieth said. “But he was dressed like Borat, so definitely came to have a good time.
“I don’t think he’s having a great time right now. That was an unfortunate set of circumstances.”
As the fan was being hauled off, the remaining fans started chanting “Jordan pay his bail! Jordan pay his bail!”
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