By many accounts, it started at the 1995 U.S. Open, held at Shinnecock Golf Club in New York. "Mrs. Doubtfire," the golf fans called Scot Colin Montgomerie then.
In the past seven years, Montgomerie has had a tumultous relationship with American golf fans, including much publicized incidents at the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional and the 1999 Ryder Cup matches at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Knowing they can get under his skin, the more poorly behaved among the galleries let Monty have it -- from nicknames to catcalls to boos as he putts.
Wednesday, in the first day of the Accenture Match Play Championships, the Scot lost his match to American Scott McCarron, 2 and 1, and exited the course angry about being heckled.
"It's clear to me there will never be a level playing field when I play over here," Montgomerie told the Daily Mail newspaper the next day. "What can I possibly hope to achieve over here if spectators don't allow me to compete on the same terms as everyone else?"
But international players have had to endure negative comments, often overcoming these hecklers with better play. Ian Woosnam, who won the 1991 Masters over crowd favorite Tom Watson, is just one example.
"Everybody wants to see an American win it at the moment and you're going to get a few biased people. You've got to expect that," Woosnam said after that win more than a decade ago. "The more angry I get, the better I play. It made me more determined to play well and get the people on my side."
Greg Norman has endured his share of heckling, too. At the 1986 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, fans who had been drinking began yelling about not wanting an Australian to win the U.S. Championship. That incident is just one among several run-ins that Norman had with over-zealous fans.
Even the much beloved Gary Player of South Africa had hard times. Political activists, protesting against the apartheid in his native country, insulted him and threw ice at him. During the 1969 PGA Championship, he narrowly avoided a physical confrontation on the course. His life was threatened at the 1971 U.S. Open at Merion.
"I dealt with it by not fighting back," Player said in a Sports Illustrated account. "I didn't fight fire with fire."
Even American players get harassed at times. Ask Jack Nicklaus about the things Arnold Palmer fans said to him when the two competed. Ask Ryder Cup competitors. Ask almost anyone who has played against Tiger Woods in recent years.
After the latest Monty comments, Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal said Friday that ignoring the yells was often the best way to deal with the problem.
"Well, I mean, you just -- you don't put any attention to it," Olazabal said. "You just try to do what you have to do and don't allow those things to interfere with what you are doing.
"You know, there is a lot of crowds. You know, there's a lot of people watching the match. Sometimes, you know, you have 25,000, 30,000 people watching the four matches at the Ryder Cup. You know, it's very difficult to have everybody behaving properly.
"But you have to be prepared for that. It's just very simple. It would be nicer if everybody would behave properly. I think that's what should happen. But unfortunately, it doesn't happen."
