PRESIDENTS CUP Ernie Els defends fans after Woods says some have gone “over the top”

This doesn’t feel like any other Presidents Cup.

Aside from the Patrick Reed controversy in the bunker, his caddie punching a fan and the International team leading, we now have team captains Ernie Els and Tiger Woods bristling in a media conference.

Tiger Woods looked stony-faced during Saturday evening’s media conference to discuss the Sunday singles match-up’s and suggested that some of the golf fans at Royal Melbourne this week had gone a little over the top.

“It has happened. Have people said things that have been over-the-top? Yes,” Woods said. “I’ve heard it. I’ve been in the groups playing when it has happened. I’ve been inside the ropes as a captain today witnessing it.”

“All I ask for, all of the galleries is to be excited, but be respectful. All of the players.”

Unprompted, Ernie Els then jumped in to defend the local crowds reminding the press, and Woods of the reception the International team received at the Presidents Cup in New York two years ago.

“I’ve played in many Presidents Cups. I’ve played in the US many times”, Els said. “And if you look back at New York and how these players were treated in New York, this crowd is pretty quiet.”

“We just get treated the same, wherever you go as an away game there is some heckling going on, and we all know that. And you prepare for that and that’s just the way it goes. And we shut up and we get on with things. that’s what we did in New York.”

The full media conference is below and it’s well worth a watch.

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