On Sunday at the Valspar Championship, we learned the story of a proud American doing his best to get into the head of European Ryder Cup stalwart Ian Poulter some seven months ahead of the biennial matches.
Poulter, obviously not thrilled with the heckler, asked for him and his friend to be removed from the tournament. Perhaps a bit thin-skinned, but not completely out of line. What happened next was.
I’m sure @FSC_Athletics & @FscSports are really proud of your professionalism. I wish you the very best Ian pic.twitter.com/jqFa3WVuDC
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) March 12, 2016
An obvious attempt by Poulter to get the guy fired from his job at Florida Southern College proved successful earlier this week, according to an email sent by a friend to Barstool Sports. The email read, in part:
Trent wrote an article about like 6 days ago about a friend of mine who got in Ian Poulters head at the Valspar open. Poulter proceeded to try and get that guy fired. Well 2 days ago, he succeeded. The administration was forced to get rid of him due to Ian Poulter being a dickhead.
The original action taken against the heckler is fine. It’s understandable to not want to put up with a Happy Gilmore-esque heckler, but once he’s no longer heckling you, that’s when you go into normal person mode and move on.
Not Ian Poulter.
Instead, Poulter goes to the guy’s employer for the world to see and complains. That kind of pressure on an administration to basically condone the guy’s actions is putting him in a no-win situation.
Sure, you may take Poulter’s side and say that there’s no place for heckling in professional golf and I’d tend to agree with you. However, ask to kick the guy out, move on with your day and don’t worry about it. Don’t complain to his employer and try to get the guy fired.
