After a weekend in which a pair of English golfers snapped at each other on Twitter, one admitted he was under the influence and “should have known better.” He then turned his account off.
It all started on Sunday after LIV Golf Adelaide in Australia as fans showered Chase Koepka with beer when he aced the par-3 12th for just the second hole-in-one in LIV’s short history.
DP World Tour player Eddie Pepperell responded to a comment on Twitter by saying the raucous scene was akin to similar experiences on the 16th hole at the WM Phoenix Open in Scottsdale.
“This has been happening at Scottsdale for years now, so not sure how much LIV is really changing things here,” wrote Pepperell, who has been known as an active member of Twitter.
Richard Bland, a LIV Golf member, responded with a shot at Pepperell’s tenure on the European tour.
“Ed.. tell me where on DP World there’s been a hole like this? Because in 22yrs of playing the tour I can’t think of any. But maybe your 15 minutes on tour you know different,” his tweet read.
That led Pepperell to this response:
Where to start…
Suppose it’s simple; in my 15 minutes I won more events than you did in 22 years.
What the Tour has done (just to name a few);
GolfSixes
Heineken hole at Himmerland
Beat the Pro in HollandThe Tour, which you spent 22 years on did ok for you mate.
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) April 23, 2023
On Monday, the two made up as Bland admitted he was drinking when he sent the tweet, and Pepperell had already noted he hadn’t taken the comment personally.
“Unfortunately I did have too many last Ed. I apologize for what I said. I should know better not to tweet under the influence,” Bland wrote.
As of Tuesday morning, Bland’s account was deactivated.
Bland finished 32nd at the LIV event in Australia and had just one top-10 finish during the circuit’s initial campaign, finishing fourth in Bangkok. His claim to fame is he won the 2021 British Masters at the age of 48 in his 478th start on the tour.
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