Rory McIlroy Swiped A Golf Fan’s Phone After He Was Heckled & Then Refused To Answer Questions About It: “Scheffler Was Arrested For Less”

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Rory McIlroy snatched a fan’s phone right out of their hands, and the story only gets more interesting from there.

In case you missed it, before the Players Championship officially got underway at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, there was “swiped phone heard round the world” situation. Rory McIlroy, the second ranked golfer in the entire world, was playing his practice round ahead of the tournament when he hit his tee shot on the 18th hole in the water.

A patron standing behind the tee box decided that the water ball would be a perfect opportunity for some heckling. The golf fan apparently referenced the 2011 Masters, a tournament in which Rory was the leader going into the final round and choked the elusive and prestigious Green Jacket away. McIlroy evidently heard what the young man said loud and clear, which led to this strange interaction where the professional golfer took the guy’s phone:

Texas golfer shouted “just like 2011 at Augusta” after Rory hit it in the water on his first ball and after his second shot Rory did this. What a crash out Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. @stoolpresidente @ziregolf pic.twitter.com/UtHdO4UNOg

— Ganix Gabinus (@gabinus_ganix) March 12, 2025

As that above post pointed out, it quickly became known that the patron that was antagonizing Rory McIlroy is a college golfer named Luke Potter. The 20-year-old plays for the University of Texas, and interestingly enough, he had just won The Hayt Collegiate Tournament, which takes places in the days before the Players at a course that’s right across from where the PGA event is hosted.

So the college golfer was soaking in the win (former Texas Longhorns pros like Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler even congratulated him on his win) and hanging out with his teammates at the Players practice round. And for some reason, Potter felt inclined to chirp something at Rory, and now he finds himself in the middle of this weird, potentially unnecessary controvery.

And technically, the University of Texas junior did break the rules that the Players Championship lays out in their Fan Code of Conduct:

“Spectators will be subject to expulsion and the loss of ticket privileges for the following breaches of etiquette:

-Making rude, vulgar or other inappropriate comments or gestures;
-Verbal or physical harassment of players, volunteers, officials or spectators;
-Distracting a player or any disruption of play;
-Behavior that is unruly, disruptive, unsafe or illegal in nature;
-Failing to follow the instruction of a championship official, volunteer or security personnel.”

According to reports, Luke Potter has already written apology letters to Rory McIlroy, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, and the director of the PGA Tour University, Brendan von Doehren. Obviously, a college golfer should know more about golf etiquette than your run-of-the-mill, beer drinking golf fan. It’s a little surprising that he was the one that was giving Rory a hard time.

On the flip side, this could be a situation where McIlroy made a mountain out of a mole hill. Professional athletes get heckled all of the time, and though it might not be pleasant for them, it’s mostly considered part of the job. It’s not normal to see a pro athlete – especially a professional golfer of Rory’s level – react to a crowd like this.

And to make matters worse, McIlroy refused to comment about the matter when he was asked about it by the media after his round on Thursday:

Rory was asked about the heckling incident…. https://t.co/2DsLkjdwz9 pic.twitter.com/m0u28GfZqd

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) March 13, 2025

So uncomfortable.

In my humble opinion, if Rory just said, “Yeah he heckled me, I overreacted a bit, and I found out he’s a Texas golfer so I hope he learns to mature a little bit,” that would have been better than no commenting the entire thing. Because he answered that way, social media users are (drumroll please) heckling him online:

He’s becoming such a baby.

— John Stone (@j_stone3) March 14, 2025

Rory is one of the most unlikable professionals in any sport

— Chris Tubbs (@thechristubbs) March 14, 2025

Just when you start to like Rory, he pulls crap like this and confirms what a child he is. PGA has issues Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. pic.twitter.com/oElJKL41P5

— Winoman (@Winoman1123) March 14, 2025

He’s such a tool

— BennyDesigns (@BenGjoni) March 14, 2025

Attitudes like Rory is the reason PGA golf is boring and YT is thriving. He could be one of the greatest ambassadors of the game, but he chooses to be an elitist POS.

— Grumps (@GrumpsCrypto) March 14, 2025

Scheffler was arrested for less

— bob (@_cochebomba) March 13, 2025