DUBLIN, Ohio – Jack Nicklaus never had to deal with fans wielding mobile devices, but he feels modern players need to get over the amateur paparazzi at PGA Tour events.
‘It’s either guys have got to get used to it and just expect it, or the Tour has to adjust their policy,’ Nicklaus said Saturday, according to ESPN.com. ‘We (at the Memorial Tournament) don’t control that. Whatever the Tour wants us to do and thinks is right, then we’ll work on it.’
Lax enforcement of the PGA Tour’s mobile device policy, which prohibits fans from taking pictures or shooting video during tournament days, became a hot-button issue on Thursday.
Few fans were admonished for trying to snap pictures of high-profile players, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who withdrew citing fatigue after an opening 7-over 79. Mickelson’s playing partners, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler, complained of a lack of gallery control. Mickelson never acknowledged the unruly fans were an influence in his decision to withdraw, but a tournament marshal confirmed Friday that Mickelson was livid about the camera barrage at the 17th hole on Thursday.
Enforcement has since been more prevalent, including the confiscation of over 150 phones between the Woods and Watson groupings on Friday. Fans, however, continue to sneak pictures.
Nicklaus likens the artificial clicks of the digital cameras to the verbose crowds at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and its infamous par-3 16th.
‘I’ve always felt like if you have all the noise like you have in Scottsdale, if you’re used to it, they expect it and it’s not a big deal,’ he said. ‘But if you don’t expect it and it happens, then it becomes a big deal.’