The Golfer Who Flouted Every Rule: “If You Bug Me, I’ll Insult You and Break Your Clubs”

Golf is often seen as a game of precision, patience, and politeness.

But Dave Hill was none of those things.

From the moment he stepped onto the professional stage, he made it clear that rules were suggestions at best—and obstacles to be smashed at worst.

Hill wasn’t just a talented golfer; he was golf’s nightmare, a man who broke almost every regulation in the PGA rule book and turned professional tournaments into personal battlegrounds.

Hill’s reputation for rebellion wasn’t built on mere accidents or isolated incidents.

It was a deliberate, calculated defiance.

He once said, “If you bug me, I’ll insult you and forget about it.”

His sharp tongue and explosive temper earned him the nickname “the Don Rickles of golf,” a nod to the legendary insult comedian.

But unlike Rickles, Hill’s insults were often accompanied by broken clubs, lawsuits, and physical altercations.

His most infamous moment came during the 1970 U.S. Open at Hazeltine.

When asked about the prestigious course, Hill didn’t mince words.

“I’m still looking for it,” he sneered.

He went on to say the course “lacked only 80 acres of corn and a few cows” and claimed the architect had the blueprints upside down.

The PGA fined him $150 for the insult, but the damage was done: Hill was cemented as golf’s ultimate rebel.

This combative streak wasn’t a sudden outburst.

Hill’s fiery personality was forged in childhood.

Bullied and burdened with a stutter, he became a loner who learned to defend himself aggressively.

On the basketball court, he was notorious for fouling out of three out of every five games, playing with such ferocity that opponents dreaded facing him.

This aggression seamlessly transferred to golf, where his anger often boiled over.

Hill’s first PGA Tour victory came in 1961 at the Tucson Open, but even then, his rule-breaking antics were evident.

He racked up fines totaling around $1,400—half of his winner’s check—mostly for breaking putters.

The tour fined him $100 for each broken club, but that didn’t stop him.

In 1963, at the Frank Sinatra Open Invitational, Hill’s rebellious streak reached new heights.

Grieving his father’s death and struggling with his game, he told the tour director that if he missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole, he would break his putter.

When the putt failed, he snapped the club over his knee and finished the hole with only half a putter.

The tour suspended him for two months.

Hill’s antics were never random.

He knew exactly what he was doing—provoking officials and players alike.

Many resented his attitude, but Hill believed others were just jealous, afraid to speak their minds as he did.

The early 1970s were particularly turbulent.

After his Hazeltine comments, Hill’s troubles escalated.

At a tournament in Palm Springs, his ball became lodged in a palm tree.

Although spectators and Hill himself identified it as his, officials disqualified him because he hadn’t marked the ball with a personal identifier—a rule Hill claimed didn’t exist.

Furious, Hill’s anger only grew.

Later that year, at the Colonial National Invitation, Hill’s frustration boiled over during a miserable round.

He was 16 over par and reportedly played the last holes using only a nine iron.

On the 18th hole, after finding a bunker with a brutal lie, Hill picked up his ball, tossed it onto the green, and tapped in.

He missed the cut and was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

The drama intensified at the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic.

Hill was fined $500 for “conduct unbecoming a professional golfer” and had to pay before competing.

Furious that he wasn’t allowed to tell his side, Hill retaliated by filing a $1 million antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour’s tournament players division.

When placed on one-year probation, he upped the lawsuit to $3 million.

The legal battle dragged on for months before settling out of court, with Hill removed from probation.

Reflecting on the episode, Hill admitted, “I really think I could have won the suit but I didn’t want it on my mind anymore.

I’m a golfer, not a political rabble rouser.”

Hill’s controversial nature wasn’t confined to the U.S.

In 1971, while playing in Australia, he clashed verbally with local star Peter Thompson.

The tension was so thick that when paired together the following week, they barely spoke or shook hands.

Hill’s antics extended beyond verbal spats.

At the 1966 Thunderbird Classic, after a frustrating round, Hill sarcastically answered a playing partner’s question about his score on the 18th hole with “8 or 108.”

When handed the scorecard, he wrote a 10 in front of the eight, signing for a second round score of 178.

Initially reported disqualified, he was ultimately credited with a total score of 257 because he had signed for a higher score than he actually shot.

His competitive fire often burned with a desire for revenge.

At the 1974 Houston Open, Hill openly admitted he was playing to get even with the Houston Golf Association over a perceived slight from the previous year.

Fueled by this grudge, he shot a final round 65 to win by one stroke.

Even in his senior years, Hill’s volatility didn’t wane.

In 1991, at the Transamerica Senior Golf Championship, he got into a physical altercation with fellow pro JC Snead on the driving range.

The fight started after Snead’s practice shots repeatedly rolled near Hill’s practice area.

Hill yelled at Snead, grabbed a club, and approached him.

The confrontation escalated to punches and wrestling before others intervened.

Hill’s relationships with fellow players were notoriously strained.

In 1970, at the Keer Open, he took issue with Chi-Chi Rodriguez’s crowd-pleasing antics, which he felt distracted him and cost him a chance at winning.

The tension nearly erupted into blows on the course and escalated into a physical confrontation in the locker room afterward.

Behind the chaos was a golfer of undeniable talent.

Hill’s 13 PGA Tour victories and six senior tour wins speak to an elite level of play.

He won the Vardon Trophy in 1969 for the lowest scoring average, one of golf’s highest honors.

He also represented the U.S. in three Ryder Cups.

Yet, despite his achievements, Hill’s legacy is overshadowed by his mercurial temper and rebellious ways.

As one publication put it, he spent two decades on the regular PGA Tour before his bad temper, big mouth, and colorful antics forced him out of the game.

Hill himself acknowledged the lasting power of his Hazeltine quote.

“It will probably never go away,” he said.

He accepted he would likely be remembered more for that remark than for his playing career, partly because he never captured a major championship.

When Dave Hill passed away on September 27, 2011, at age 74 from emphysema, the golfing world lost one of its most complex figures.

In his hometown of Jackson, Michigan, he was remembered with affection.

Ron Berman, golf pro at the Country Club of Jackson, said, “He is Jackson golf as far as I’m concerned.”

Ed Mitchell, founder of a local golf company, remarked, “From my perspective, he inspired a lot of people to take up the game.”

To the wider world, however, Dave Hill remains golf’s greatest contrarian—the man who defied convention, challenged authority, and played by his own rules.

For better or worse, he was truly golf’s unflinching maverick.