Golf’s relationship with sports betting is under renewed scrutiny after English golfer Matt Fitzpatrick publicly blamed gambling for a sharp rise in player abuse.
Fitzpatrick made the remarks at a press conference ahead of The Open Championship, which was set to tee off at Royal Birkdale on Thursday 16 July.
The major winner did not hold back, stating that virtually every professional golfer has received gambling-related abuse at some point in their career.
“I would say every golfer that’s played a professional tournament has had a message of abuse from someone that is related to gambling,” Fitzpatrick said during the press conference.
He went on to describe how easy it is to find abusive messages by simply searching a player’s name on social media platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter.
“You go and type in a player’s name who maybe isn’t playing well, maybe someone who’s favoured to play well, you type the name into Twitter and you’ll just see their name followed by abuse after abuse after abuse,” he added.
Fitzpatrick also raised concerns about in-play abuse, where spectators may deliberately heckle players mid-swing to influence the outcome of a bet.
“For me, it’s definitely becoming a problem and the issue is, particularly in golf, it would be very easy to influence a bet, whether it’s shouting on someone’s backswing, shouting on a putting stroke,” Fitzpatrick warned.
The issue is not exclusive to golf, with the International Tennis Federation and Women’s Tennis Association revealing in June 2025 that 458 female players had received abusive messages over the preceding year linked to gambling.
Despite these concerns, the commercial ties between professional golf and the betting industry remain extensive, with bet365 partnering with the PGA Tour in 2022 and OlyBet partnering with the DP World Tour in 2023.
Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, Coral, and bwin, revealed that The Masters ranked as its fourth biggest betting event last year, sitting behind only the Grand National, Super Bowl, and UEFA Champions League final.
Across Europe, the situation is further complicated by varying national laws, with sports betting sponsorships completely banned in Italy, preventing players from wearing gambling brand logos at events like the Italian Open.
Players across golf and other sports are increasingly caught in a difficult position, unable to fully benefit from betting sponsorship revenue while still bearing the brunt of abuse from frustrated gamblers.
