Bear in mind that, until fairly recently, golf was a sport played primarily by rich elites, folks who’d grown up in country clubs. Those clubs had certain standards of etiquette and politeness, as golf was supposed to be a “gentleman’s” game.
Even professional golfers, for the most part, came from wealthy or upper-middle-class backgrounds (an occasional Lee Trevino would occasionally slip through), and so did most of the people who came out to watch golf matches. SO, for many years, it could be assumed that almost everyone in attendance was a well-to-do WASP who knew the rules of golf etiquette, and would follow them.
Today, of course, millions of people, of many walks of life, play and watch golf. Ordinary working-class Joes now play on muniscipal courses, and guys likeTiger Woods have attracted the interest of many young fans who never cared about golf before.
Since there are now many more golfers and many more fans (including a lot of young people and a lot of blue collar guys), it stands to reason that increasing numbers of players and fans don’t know or care about the old unwritten rules of etiquette.
So, whereas 75 years ago, a few hundred rich fans watched politely and quietly when Bobby Jones teed off, there are now THOUSANDS of fans at the U.S. Open watching David Duval tee off. And these guys treat a golf match the way they would a baseball game! When they go to Wrigley field, they can get a hot dog and a beer and yell “You the man!” at Sammy Sosa, and no one thinks twice. Such fans now go to AUgusta or PEbble BEach, and assume they can do the same there.
Obviously, veteran players prefer the old ways, and resent the louder, more uncouth fans that golf has now. On the other hand, they’d better get used to it. ALL of them are making a LOT more money because of the influx of new fans. If they want to enforce etiquette and drive off the new fans, fine- they’ll just have to play for the kind of prize money golfers got in the BEn Hogan era.