If you’ve attended a PGA Tour event or another big-time sports event, you’ve probably seen them.
The people, mostly middle-aged men, desperately chasing autographs from the star players. It’s not just a cap or a pairing sheet they want signed. They bring bags stuffed with items to be signed and not just for themselves.
Jordan Spieth does not like it and made that clear at Pebble Beach.
“I’m not appreciative of people who travel to benefit off other people’s success,” Spieth said. “I enjoy signing and sign for kids whenever we get the chance.
At Pebble Beach, Spieth confronted an autograph seeker who objected to the player not signing for him.
“One of them dropped an F-bomb in front of three kids, so I felt the need to turn around and tell them that that wasn’t right. And couple of them were saying you’re not Tiger Woods, don’t act like you’re Tiger, I mean it’s just like, whatever, guys, so. You’re still trying to benefit off me and I’m not even Tiger Woods. So, you know, what’s that say about you?
“Normally I let (caddie) Michael (Greller) get into it with them. But when you see guys that follow you around the entire round, they’re saying afterwards, ‘We’re huge fans.’ A lot of other people did follow the entire round and so I want to make sure I sign for them, if I didn’t get them out there. So I was just a little frustrated at the end and I didn’t appreciate the language that was used and just some scums that just, it just bothered me.”
“And when these guys have these items that you’ve already seen online and people, we have — our team keeps track of that kind of stuff. And these guys that just have bags of stuff to benefit from other people’s success when they didn’t do anything themselves. Go get a job instead of trying to make money off of the stuff that we have been able to do.”
