Paige Spiranac thinks the PGA Tour handled the Bryson DeChambeau “Brooksy” drama poorly.
On Tuesday, the social media sensation — known for her sultry golf content — reacted to the PGA Tour saying it would ban fans who taunt DeChambeau with chants about his rival, Brooks Koepka.
“Let me just say that I don’t condone harassment and I do feel bad that Bryson is dealing with it,” Spiranac tweeted. “We need him to make golf interesting. But how this has been handled with banning a word is only going to make it worse for him. Fix the bigger problem. It’s not ‘Brooksy.'”
Throughout the BMW Championship last week — where DeChambeau lost in a playoff to Patrick Cantlay and had a spat with a fan afterward — spectators had been yelling “Brooksy” at DeChambeau, referencing his ongoing feud with longtime foe and fellow golfer Brooks Koepka.
In a second tweet, Spiranac wrote, “Yelling ‘Brooksy’ will get you thrown out of PGA tour events now. 1. That’s lame. 2. Where was this energy with Mashed Potatoes.”
The “mashed potatoes” chant gained fame when a spectator yelled it during the Chevron World Championship in 2011.
On Tuesday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan declared the “Brooksy” taunts against Bryson DeChambeau as “harassing” and “disrespectful” behavior.
“Fans who breach our code of conduct are subject to expulsion from the tournament and loss of their credential or ticket,” Monahan said during a news conference at East Lake Golf Club, where the season-ending Tour Championship begins Thursday. “The barometer that we are all using is the word ‘respect,’ and to me, when you hear ‘Brooksy’ yelled or you hear any expression yelled, the question is, is that respectful or disrespectful. That has been going on for an extended period of time. To me, at this point, it’s disrespectful, and that’s the kind of behavior and we’re not going to tolerate going forward.”
During BMW Championship, Spiranac defended DeChambeau on Twitter when he was trolled about his recent behavior.
“Tweets about Bryson are funny. It’s always yes he’s annoying and weird but he’s good at golf. Always. It’s never just something nice,” she tweeted Sunday.
In a separate Twitter post Spiranac said DeChambeau and Cantlay’s matchup was “one of the best playoffs I’ve ever seen,” adding that DeChambeau and Cantlay “didn’t look like the best of friends.”
Spiranac also noted that the Ryder Cup is right around the corner — Sept. 28-30 — and should make for interesting storylines since DeChambeau will be teamed up with Cantlay, as well as Koepka.
“I’m worried about Team USA,” she said.