Riggs' Hater Match at Tobacco Road: full video is out

The Hater series is back, and Fore Play went and found Riggs a真正 tough one this time: a 23-year-old unemployed 2.8 handicap, ready to talk trash and back it up. The stage was Tobacco Road, the Mike Strantz-designed track in Sanford, North Carolina, famous for blind shots, waste bunkers and a reputation for chewing up anyone who shows up overconfident.

Riggs

@RiggsBarstool

Hater series is BACK. Tomorrow. Noon eastern. A 23 year old unemployed 2.8 handicap vs yours truly. Tobacco Road. Stroke play.

The pregame hype leaned hard on the insult-comedy of it all. One reply summed up the appeal in a single line, needling Riggs for calling his opponent "unemployed" while also landing a clean shot of his own. Fore Play framed it as the toughest test yet, and by fight-week standards the buildup delivered: predictions, a photo teasing the matchup, and Barstool's own account pushing the line that watching Riggs play hurts.

Fore Play

@ForePlayPod

30 minutes. Riggs vs. a 2.6 hcp. Stroke play at Tobacco Road. Who wins, and what’s the winning score? Drop your predictions below ⤵️

When the full video actually dropped, Fore Play's own framing undercut the pregame trash talk a bit — a couple of "routine 4's" turning into what they called an absolute dogfight. That's the tension of any stroke-play Hater match: it's supposed to be a stomping, but a 2.6 or 2.8 handicap with something to prove can hang around longer than the hype suggests.

Fore Play

@ForePlayPod

Couple of routine 4’s here… this Hater match was an absolute DOGFIGHT Full video out now! @TaylorMadeGolf

Where this got genuinely interesting was the aftermath. Once the full video hit, the internet immediately zeroed in on tee positions — specifically, whether Riggs played it too safe from up front against a hater who presumably didn't get the same courtesy. Riggs didn't dodge it. He fired back that anyone arguing people should play from farther back just doesn't see the game the way he does — his stance is more golfers should move up, make more birdies, shoot lower scores, and actually have fun doing it.

Riggs

@RiggsBarstool

If your argument is more people should play golf from farther back then you & I just don’t see the game even remotely the same way. I think more people should play from farther up, make more birdies, shoot lower scores, have more fun

Fore Play leaned into the same joke the next morning, teeing up the "Riggs didn't play the back tees" complaint against a shot of him strolling off the tee box looking perfectly unbothered — less a rebuttal than a wink at the whole controversy.

Fore Play

@ForePlayPod

The haters: “Riggs didn’t play the back tees!” Riggs before the round:

It's a small controversy in the grand scheme of things, but it's also exactly the kind of debate the Hater series thrives on — amateur golf purists policing tee markers while a Barstool guy who's built a whole podcast around trolling his own critics refuses to budge an inch. Tobacco Road, with its brutal waste areas and blind approach shots, was always going to be an equalizer regardless of who played from where. The full match is out now for anyone who wants to settle the tee-box argument for themselves.