PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Two thick, beefy strong boys with snug polos and holstered pistols walked, chests out, up to the area behind TPC Sawgrass’ 12th green Sunday. As they approached the hill, another security officer smiled at two of the day’s main characters.

“It’s the Bash Brothers!” the man joked.

The three of them waited behind the green in the moments before play restarted at the final round of the Players Championship after a four-hour weather delay halted what appeared to be Rory McIlroy’s runaway moment. By then, roughly two-thirds of the massive crowd understandably left, but the ones who decided to stay all day? They were there for Rory. His gallery remained full. As the van dropped off McIlroy to continue his round, the fans loudly chanted “Ro-ry! Ro-ry! Ro-ry!” They applauded as he birdied the hole to take a three-shot lead. Most of Ponte Vedra seemed to be pulling for McIlroy.

But that support was not why the Bash Brothers were there.

That nickname was earned, for all the hecklers the two police officers kicked out of the Players Championship that day. One or two officers follow every PGA Tour group all year to act as security for the game’s stars. It’s normal, making sure no unauthorized people get inside the ropes and the crowd doesn’t do anything out of line. Most days they won’t have a single issue.

But by the time McIlroy hit his approach from the 18th fairway, one of the Bash Brothers claimed to have kicked out 15 people at least. Because, for a very minuscule, annoying, yet loud minority, McIlroy is becoming a target for heckling right now. How he handles it will tell us so much.

As McIlroy approached the 18th tee Sunday, tied for the lead trying to win the tour’s marquee event, he looked around at the crowd. He scanned his head as if trying to take it all in. And that crowd rose up and roared for him.

Until one man shouted, “Hit it in the water, Rory!” The crowd groaned. It was isolated enough that McIlroy certainly heard it. No problem, as he launched an absolutely beautiful draw around the bended fairway along the water. By the end of the day, McIlroy was headed to a three-hole Monday playoff with J.J. Spaun, one he would win going away to claim his second Players.

But is it a challenge for McIlroy to tune those heckles out?

“Yeah, absolutely,” he admitted.

“But I think when you’re in business mode you’re just trying to keep your head down and stay in your own little world for the most part.”

McIlroy is not new to fame. And he’s not new to criticism. He’s one of the bigger lightning rods for discussion in the sport, and he’s heard (and historically laughed along with) every crack about his deflating losses in majors like the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Until a week ago.

McIlroy was playing a Tuesday practice round when he hit his tee shot on 18 into the water and a young-ish fan shouted, “Just like 2011 at Augusta!” while his buddy filmed. McIlroy hit another tee shot, and before going to his ball he walked over to the fan, grabbed the friend’s phone that was filming and walked away. It turned out the guy who yelled this was Texas golfer Luke Potter, who won the amateur tournament in town just days earlier. That only added to the bizarre nature of the incident. Security kicked Potter and his friend out, but a third party filmed the incident, posted it online and it went viral.

Seeing McIlroy react that way was surprising, and perhaps it shed light on a deeper insecurity of McIlroy. He can joke and laugh about Pinehurst. Maybe even the 2022 Open Championship or the 2023 U.S. Open. But that 2011 Masters when he led by four shots and shot a Sunday 80 to finish 10 back? That’s the big one.

That reaction is human. It is relatable.

There’s just one problem. The reaction encouraged the masses. Or at least a particular segment of it. It’s why the Bash Brothers had such a busy day. Perhaps even more interestingly, it’s why there was such a short leash to kick those people out.

As McIlroy walked to Sawgrass’ famous island 17th green, one fan yelled “2011 Augusta, Rory!” McIlroy’s caddie, Harry Diamond, called the Bash Brothers over and the fan was taken away.

We don’t know what led to each anecdotal example, so we can’t be sure how bad each one was. We just know a good deal of them happened. The PGA Tour has in its code of conduct specific rules related to fan behavior, and it takes a firm zero-tolerance policy when it comes to things like heckling. Specifically, it makes clear you are at risk of expulsion, for “rude, vulgar or other inappropriate comments or gestures or any words or actions,” including “verbal or physical harassment of players, caddies, volunteers, officials, staff, guests and/or spectators.”

The tour doesn’t appear to have an overall fan problem. There was concern when gambling was legalized that it would lead to severe issues with spectators attempting to shout during backswings or otherwise affect results. The tour hasn’t seen that happen, other than some pleading with a player to win their bet or complaining that they lost it (which is indeed a problem but not too dramatic of one).

Most events go on with no issue, but we also live in a new era of social media where it’s common for some to revel in the chance to get a reaction and gain some attention by posting it online. That reaction is everything. And while maybe 40 years ago nobody would know it even happened, it now has the chance to go viral and be seen by the world.

That’s why Tuesday’s practice round incident was so consequential. For that minuscule minority, McIlroy provided a target. The 2011 Masters at Augusta. It’s now his exhaust port in the Death Star — hecklers know they can hit it and watch it go boom. Diamond being the one to call security over for a dumb but generally innocuous comment (“2011 Augusta, Rory!”) only confirmed it.

Because yes, the tour has its code of conduct, but it’s generally the players or their caddies who act on it. Many players ignore any stupidity, and then it goes away. McIlroy generally always had.

We’re seeing what happens when you flinch. At Torrey Pines last month, a fan told McIlroy to blame his caddie, Diamond, for a missed put. McIlroy, always quick to defend Diamond, told the fan to “shut the f—k up.”

Former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson got heckled by rowdy spectators at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open for the U.S. loss in Rome, and he went over and argued with them. That went viral, of course. So two months later at the Masters — the one place “patrons” are supposedly so well behaved — Johnson made a mess of the 12th hole and heard sarcastic cheers. A hot mic caught Johnson turning and yelling, “Oh, f—k off.” He’s now perhaps the most consistent target for heckling in golf.

Before that it was Bryson DeChambeau, a top target during his feud with Brooks Koepka. After a painful playoff loss to Patrick Cantlay at the 2021 BMW Championship, a fan yelled the taunt, “Great job, Brooksie!” and DeChambeau lost it. “You know what? Get the f–k out!” DeChambeau yelled.

Things were so bad once for Colin Montgomerie that Golf Digest made buttons. (Stuart Franklin / Getty Images)

It’s not all recent. Take Colin Montgomerie. Back in the early 2000s, he had become such a target for heckling in the U.S. that it got to him. They called him “Mrs. Doubtfire” and made fun of his figure. And he reacted. It bothered him so much he threatened to boycott U.S. events. So at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, Golf Digest made 25,000 buttons to handout reading “Be Nice To Monty.”

The point for McIlroy is that these kinds of comments will now continue. The through line on all of this is that spectators pile on when they know they can make you mad. Immaturity, alcohol and/or comedic laziness lead to a lot of generic dudes thinking they’re clever when repeating the same lines. That stinks, the same way somebody yelling “Mashed potatoes!” after a tee shot or “Get in the hole” on an approach gets old fast.

The vast majority of fans sincerely love McIlroy. Maybe that’s difficult to remember when the negativity stands out. McIlroy is playing the best overall golf in the world. He won his sixth DP World Tour championship in December. He won at Pebble Beach last month. Add in a huge Players win Sunday. This could be McIlroy’s moment.

Yet people aren’t going to suddenly change. And each ejected fan or viral video of an angry reaction only provides more fuel to the fire, and the comments will continue. The Ryder Cup is coming, in New York of all places. All the power to him if that’s how he wants to react, but the test will be how he plays in response.

Sunday, he did let Spaun come back from a three-shot deficit to force a playoff. Then again, as the fan yelled “Hit it in the water” on 18, McIlroy hit one of the prettier shots you can hit. Which response he channels more will tell us everything about his 2025.

(Top photo: Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)