"Maybe he should put up his own money": Rickie Fowler responds to heckling fan calling him a 'coward' over Leeds investment

American golfer Rickie Fowler was called a 'coward' in the middle of The Open Championship course on Thursday (July 20) for passing on the possibility of investing in Leeds United Football Club. The criticism came from a fan who was watching the event.

This was reported by journalist Kevin Van Valkenburg, who is at Royal Liverpool Golf Club reporting for No Laying Up. Van Valkenburg also reported that Fowler said that "maybe he [the fan] should put up his own money."

Image via Twitter @KVanValkenburg

This was what Van Valkenburg posted about it on Twitter:

"Chatted with Rickie Fowler after his round. Asked him about being heckled by a fan, something he believed was a first. 'He called me a coward for not going through with my Leeds investment,' Fowler said. 'That's a first. Maybe he should put up his own money.'"

Fowler was considering investing in Leeds United soccer club a few weeks ago. He ultimately decided not to move in that direction, something Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth did say.

Spieth and Thomas are now minority partners in Leeds, who were relegated to the English Football League Championship after finishing 19th in the Premier League last season.

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Rickie Fowler at The Open Championship

Rickie Fowler had a somewhat unlucky start to The Open Championship. He started with a bogey on hole 1 but was able to maintain a steady pace for the rest of the round, even with flashes of his best.

Rickie Fowler at The 151st Open Championship - Day One (Image via Getty).

He managed to make birdie on holes 5, 15, and 17, and par on all the others, which would be closing an outstanding day, but the 18th hole came up against him and complicated the result, as he could only make a triple bogey.

Despite this mishap, Fowler finished his round with +1, tied for 50th place, with the first round still to finish. He is currently six strokes behind the leaders, South African amateur Christo Lamprecht and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.

This is Fowler's 12th appearance at The Open Championship. His best placement so far is T2 in the 2014 edition. He arrived at Hoylake as one of the favorites to win the title, according to specialized forecasting sites.