New Delhi, May 9 -- "I love the noise. It's the closest I'll ever get to feeling like an NFL player." said Ben Griffin, appearing in a popular golf-podcast earlier this year. Griffin, who plays on the US PGA Tour, was responding to a question about the Waste Management Phoenix Open-an event with a reputation for a raucous gallery. "You've got to embrace the noise. Some guys don't like it.I don't have a problem with it," he added.

Griffin was spot on with the observation of his peers-most pro golfers don't like noisy galleries on the course. On most professional tourneys, a hush descends every time a player is about to hit a shot as course marshals hold up placards asking for silence. In that moment, ripe for disturbance, the inadvertent ...