Golf sees itself as a fine, well-mannered sport.

The mere fact that the players have to impose penalties shows the high moral standards that also prevail in the multi-million dollar business of professional golf.

Even in tough all-round competitions, the tournament series is decent.

You respect each other, many professionals are not afraid to give their direct opponents tips on the practice field.

But before the play-offs in the FedExCup, which begin on Sunday in New Jersey, it is to be feared that the image of golf as a noble sport could suffer further damage.

There is the nonsensical argument between the two stars Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

And then at the most recent tournaments there were supposed fans who wanted to disturb DeChambeau quite massively with their roaring.

Screamers who shout absurd encouragement like “in the hole”, as if the ball could be hit directly into the hole from a distance of often more than a few hundred meters, have been known for a long time, at least in the United States.

But in the past few years, the rioters on the PGA tour have become louder and louder.

For Jordan Spieth, the so-called "heckling", improper heckling, is now part of everyday life on the tour.

The golf legend Jack Nicklaus remembers that he was once called "Fat Jack" by fans for snatching victories from then idol Arnold Palmer.

The crowd favorite Tiger Woods had to endure racist abuse from time to time.

But such derailments remained isolated cases.

The fact that fans were expelled from the pitch for improper heckling were exceptional cases.

Because on the whole, if you ignore the cheers of some fans over the failure of their opponents at the Ryder Cup, the spectators treated golf professionals with respect.

In the meantime, however, the trend on the PGA tour of mocking or mocking players can no longer be ignored. With the “Brooksy Campaign”, this negative development, which is strongly encouraged by social media, has reached a temporary climax. "We athletes have to adhere to a high standard, but not the fans", complained the Spanish world number one Jon Rahm rightly. He only sees one solution. Anyone who misbehaves has to be thrown off the field. It is high time the PGA tour did just that.