Major champion calls gambling impact on golf at Open: ‘Abuse after abuse’

As legalized sports gambling grows in popularity in the US, and its negative impact on grandstands across the country, golf has not been left untouched. While players in other sports have been caught betting and influencing games, fans are golf’s problem.

And the problems go from the course to him, as Matt Fitzpatrick explained in his 2026 Open Championship press conference at Royal Birkdale.

The former US Open champion pointed out two different ways sports gambling is a “problem” in golf: fan abuse of players and hecklers trying to influence play.

Here’s what you need to know.

Matt Fitzpatrick on golf betting’s impact on fans: ‘It’s definitely becoming a problem’

Fitzpatrick has a season to remember in 2026. After years of struggle following his 2022 US Open victory, the 31-year-old Englishman moved up to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking this year thanks to three victories and a runner-up finish on the PGA Tour.

This week, he hopes to capture his second major title and first Open win in his home country. But on Monday, he expressed some concern that golfers could try to influence the game, if not this week, then at future pro golf events.

“To me, it’s become a real problem,” Fitzpatrick said when asked about golf gambling during a press conference at Royal Birkdale.

He went on to say how “easy” it would be for golf fans to affect the game by betting on hitting the pros on the course or yelling while swinging.

“The thing is, especially in golf, it can be very easy to influence a bet, even if you’re yelling at someone to back off, yelling. It’s really easy,” Fitzpatrick explained. “Obviously that’s hard to monitor, but it’s definitely a problem.”

Fitzpatrick’s concern about golf gambling influencing tournaments is not a hypothetical matter. It may already be a problem in one of this year’s majors.

In the final round of the 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, Wyndham Clark was relentlessly beaten on his way to victory, with fans on site booing him.

While the spectators’ behavior may have been a response to Clark’s bad behavior, Jordan Spieth had a different take. At the John Deere Classic, Spieth suggested that fans betting on Clark was the motivation for the abuse they threw at him.

“I don’t know how big Wyndham is [Clark] situation [at the 2026 U.S. Open] the fact that it was tempting to bet the Wyndham field verse on Sunday in a legal betting situation, and you’d have people out there, actually, with $100 to $10,000, depending on who you are, on the field versus somebody else,” Spieth said. It might not last long, but you can touch the gun if you want. I don’t know another sport that you can touch as a fan like you play golf. So I don’t know how much that has to do with it, if it’s different than before.”

In just the past year, Fitzpatrick has been the subject of several high-profile incidents of fan abuse at tournaments.

Worst of all, Fitzpatrick was on the European Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black, and the abuse he and his teammates endured during their quest for victory will be remembered for a long time.

The ongoing hostility to the Ryder Cup may have been a factor in Fitzpatrick’s struggles at the Players Championship and RBC Heritage this year, where fans turned against him as he competed against American Ryder Cup stars Cameron Young and Scottie Scheffler.

But on Monday, Fitzpatrick talked about a different kind of fan abuse in the big-time pro sports roiling right now: fans harassing athletes on social media over losing bets.

“You just look at all the messages people are getting — football players, tennis players, you name it, everybody’s getting messages saying, oh, you missed that penalty; call me out on this. Oh, you didn’t make birdie; I paid for this,” Fitzpatrick said.

He then said that all professional golfers have received negative fan messages about gambling at some point in their careers, and “we can see it this week” at the Open Championship.

“I’ve had my fair share. I’d say every professional golfer has had an abusive message from someone related to gambling. I mean, you can see it this week,” Fitzpatrick argued. “You write the name of a player who may not be playing well, maybe someone who likes to play well, you write it on Twitter and you see his name followed by abuse after abuse after abuse.”

Although Fitzpatrick admitted he had a small bet on England to win the World Cup, he revealed it was a tradition he had with a good friend, and he “doesn’t encourage gambling at all.” Despite his bet, he assured reporters that he would not abuse England star Harry Kane if his team lost.

“It’s difficult because I had 20 quid in England to win the World Cup, but at the same time, if it doesn’t go in, I’m not going to send a message to Harry Kane and be like, why did you play rubbish? Obviously there are people who have that problem,” said Fitzpatrick. “I don’t know, obviously I don’t encourage gambling at all. It’s not – it’s not really for me. It’s something me and my mate do every World Cup and Euros, that’s all.”

Should England beat Argentina and reach the World Cup final on Sunday, it’s safe to say Fitzpatrick will be more focused on the Claret Jug (and the $3.2 million winner’s share that comes with it) than his World Cup bets.