Rory McIlroy Tossed a Club During His Opening Round at the BMW PGA Championship, Could Face a Fine

Rory McIlroy’s opening round 71 at Wentworth Club during the BMW PGA Championship wasn’t his best. After blocking his second shot to the right of the green on the par-5 17th, the world number one threw his club in frustration, now he is facing a fine from the European Tour.

Via IrishTimes.com:

"“Acceptance of bad shots is the thing I have been doing so well and I feel like my patience was wearing a bit thin,” McIlroy said. “I just need to stay in control of my emotions because I feel like that’s one of the things… if I’m a little tired or a little fatigued mentally, I’ll start to be hard on myself and start to get down on myself. “I played okay. There weren’t really any aspects of my game I thought were really good, but at the same time I don’t feel any aspect of my game was really off.”"

This leads me to my next argument, Golf.com released an article chronicling some viewer complaints to the FCC about Tiger Woods cursing being heard over the live broadcast.

Here’s an example from this year’s Masters.

Golf is a heated game, and a lot of times bad shots bring out visible and audible frustration. Woods has become known for his club drops and cursing because he is one of, if not the most, visible player on tour. When almost every shot you hit is shown, including the bad ones, it’s hard not to catch a curse here or there. If viewers are uncomfortable with this, mute your TV when Tiger is on the screen and you won’t hear anything he says.

The blame could be placed on the broadcast networks for not bleeping or even muting whatever mic is on Tiger after he swings, but that would erase the drama that comes with the most polarizing golfer on tour. Golf has never been a sport that needed a lot of commentary and player reactions are usually just as enjoyable as their shots. Anyone watching knows Tiger duck hooking a shot into the woods at the Masters is going to bring out an emotional response, but that’s golf. If one player is ruining your golf viewing experience, deal with it and move on, or don’t watch.