A birdie is a good thing in golf, but flipping the bird is not.
Still, that didn’t stop Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre from flashing his middle finger after a particularly bad shot during the first round of the Masters on Thursday.
While at the 15th green, two of MacIntyre’s golf balls ended up in the water, giving him a quadruple bogey nine for the hole.
If you’re not familiar with the game, a “quadruple bogey” is a score of four strokes over par on any individual hole. Trust us: It’s not good, especially for pros like 29-year-old MacIntyre.
Not surprisingly, he was a little miffed by his performance at the hole and reacted by flashing his middle finger in frustration. (Watch the video here.)
The Associated Press noted that northern Georgia has had a dry spring, making some of the greens at Augusta as “rock-hard” as “a concrete parking lot,” and causing balls to pick up lots of speed later in the day, affecting some players’ games.
“I take back what I said on Tuesday. I didn’t think it was firm. Now it’s like a Saturday firm, I would say, for a Thursday, which is not normal,” MacIntyre said.
The two-time PGA Tour winner also got emotional on other holes, swearing on the 12th and 13th holes and slamming his club to the ground on Hole 17.
As a result, MacIntyre ended up with an 8-over par 80 and is unlikely to move on after Friday’s round.
But getting emotional is a big part of MacIntyre’s game, he told Golfweek last year.
“If I walk around and I’m all happy, I just made a double bogey or people are clapping, thanks very much, that’s not me. I’m needing to smash something up. I want to rip a glove,” he said.
MacIntyre was reportedly “reprimanded by Masters officials” on Friday but won’t face a fine for his digit display, according to GolfMagic.com.
