PGA Tour star Matt Fitzpatrick has about had it with Hollywood’s lack of enthusiasm on the U.S. Open.
“Very poor,” Fitzpatrick said to explain the atmosphere at Los Angeles Country Club this weekend, in keeping with Barstool.
“It’s disappointing on the USGA side. They need an excellent tournament — from what I’ve heard plenty of members bought tickets and that’s why there’s so many less people. Hopefully, it’s not the identical for other U.S. Opens going forward.”
The 28-year-old, who won last yr’s U.S. Open in Brookline, Mass. for his first major win, seemed surprised by the response to his hole-in-one on Friday.
“I wish it could have been louder,” he said.
A number of images shared on the USA Network broadcast show a mostly empty field, despite a 23,000-person capability limit on the tournament per day.
Golf Digest reported Sunday that the possible 23,000 fans included 14,000 for suites and hospitality tents.
This leaves 9,000 tickets available for purchase, of which 4,500 were made available to most of the people while the opposite 4,500 were sold to members of the Los Angeles Country Club.
The report also claimed that the LACC members attempted to buy all 9,000 remaining tickets, while a USGA official declined to comment on the matter.
This, combined with the Los Angeles lifestyle that features fashionably late showings to Lakers and Dodgers games, tells the story of a lackluster showing for this weekend’s major.
“This US Open crowd appears like a practice round, it’s cool since it’s easy to go wherever you please, but makes the stage feel lower than it should for our major,” The Ringer’s Tate Frazier wrote on Twitter.
Fitzpatrick isn’t the one player in the sphere who has issues with this yr’s U.S. Open.
“I’m not a giant fan of this place,” LIV Golf defector and PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka said of LACC on Friday, citing blind tee shots and tough-to-navigate fairways.
Fitzpatrick entered Sunday at 1-under, nine shots off the lead, and Kopeka was 10 shots behind at even.
