Jason Day won the Arnold Palmer Invitational – but not everyone was happy for him

Jason Day

Jason Day won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, making an excellent up-and-down from the bunker on the final hole to snatch a one-shot victory over Kevin Chappell after a final round filled with twists and turns.

Day played some fantastic golf, but one aspect of his game left many fans very displeased (and we’re not talking about his quick nap pre-shot routine). Unfortunately, on what should have been a day to celebrate 28-year-old Day picking up his fifth win in 12 starts, one of the biggest talking points was his repeated failure to shout fore after hitting shots towards spectators.  

Day is certainly not the only player guilty of not shouting fore. In fact, it’s become far too common for shots towards the crowd to be followed by silence. But this habit cannot be allowed to continue. Not only is it an immediate danger to the crowds, the world’s top players not shouting fore sets a terrible example to all other golfers. 

Get hit by a golf ball travelling at over 100 miles an hour and you’ll know about it. Luckily, most of the incidents of spectators being hit don’t result in serious harm, and the injured party is content to walk away with a signed glove stuffed with $50 notes. But when a fan has his nose broken at the Australian Masters in November, or when European Tour player Fabrizio Zanotti gets knocked out by a ball during the KLM Open, it should serve as a reminder that golf balls can cause serious harm.

It’s horrible to think that players are calculated enough to consider that not shouting fore may result in a ricochet off a spectator, leaving them in a better position for their next shot, but what other explanation is there? 

The PGA and European Tour should do their bit to ensure the safety of the spectators (and other players) by dishing out penalties for players that fail to shout fore. And those penalties should come in the form of shots, that will actually have an effect on the players, not £20,000 fines that won’t. 

But it shouldn’t even need the tours to force players to shout fore. They’re decent human beings. Golf is not a matter of life and death. Sure, it’s their livelihood, and there are millions of pounds at stake, but ask any one of them whether they’d be willing to have a wayward drive kill someone if it meant winning a tournament and I guarantee the answer will be an unresounding “no”. 

Stop putting people’s lives in danger. Start shouting fore. 

NEXT: Someone’s going to get killed if you don’t start shouting fore