It's become a common sight. A golfer is shown standing by the tee or green waiting to play his next shot but just before the coverage cuts back to the studio he lets go a venomous discharge of spit.
What happens next appears to depend on where you live.
In the UK, there will be an appalled reaction from the anchor, even an apology to viewers. In the U.S., discussion will simply focus on the shot ahead or current state of the leaderboard.
So what's going on here? Does the U.K. have more prudish presenters?
Probably not but that isn't the point away. The general feeling on British shores is that spitting looks terrible when done by a golfer who is hardly generating loads of the stuff simply by walking.
In fact, it would be more unusual for our TV presenters NOT to mention it when it's done so brazenly.
The other general concensus is that it appears to be, shall we say, an American disease.
What baffles many U.K. golf fans is that it's not just the American young bucks (i.e.. Dustin Johnson, whose phlegm levels were clearly set to high during his win at Pebble Beach) who are guilty but also some of the well-to-do veterans such as "Gentleman" Jim Furyk.
Tiger Woods is a serial spitter too, prompting well-known cricket commentator Jack Bannister to tell Talksport viewers last week: "Tiger's speech lasted 13 minutes and I think it's the longest time I've seen him go without spitting."
In short, it's become an issue. In fact, the Sky Sports Golf team have been inundated with so many emails on the subject that it led the show's presenter Robert Lee to declare: "Let's start a campaign to stamp it out."
Says Lee: "If enough letters were written to the PGA Tour maybe it would bring enough attention to it and something could get done because it's vile. But the Americans just don't seem bothered about it. It doesn't seem to register."
Lee's Sky Sports colleague Mark Roe -- also a former European Tour winner -- is particularly outspoken on the matter.
"It's an absolutely disgraceful habit," says Roe. "I saw Dustin Johnson spit on the first tee at Riviera before he hit his tee shot and it was disgusting.
"The problem is they keep sticking chewing tobacco into the side of their mouths, I guess it's a country thing over there. It's something the Swedes used to do on the European Tour but to the credit of the Swedes they weren't very often seen spitting on camera.
"It's got to be stamped out. It needs to become a fineable offence on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. It should start with a $1,500 fine and then it should be doubled every time they are seen spitting."
Over the top? Plenty of UK golf fans would agree with Roe and Lee but what would they make of such comments on the other side of the Atlantic?
To help find out, Golf365 asked three U.S. journalists about whether their countrymen were guilty and why more Americans didn't take offence in the same way as us Brits.
Here's how they responded.
Geoff Shackelford (U.S. blogger): I think more Americans are disgusted by it than you may realize. But remember, this is a nation that pretty much looks past any kind of questionable behavior until we just can't handle it or the entire system collapses, and I guess spitting is way down the priority list behind slow play, club tossing and other golfing atrocities. Though we did draw the line when Sergio spat in the cup. Somehow that got people's attention, probably because of the germ transfer possibilities more than the sheer tackiness of the gesture.
Stephanie Wei (U.S. blogger): I asked a bunch of Canadian Tour players that question a few years ago. I was at the CanTour championship to caddy for my friend, Andres Gonzales, and I noticed how all the players spit -- it didn't matter if they dipped, chewed or smoked cigarettes, many didn't do either. I was baffled and thought it was gross. I started watching closer on the PGA Tour and it seems to be that golfers across the board spit. So I laughed when I got your email because it's a phenomenon I've wondered about. Do European Tour players not spit? (I'm pretty sure Sergio Garcia does. Didn't he spit in the cup at Augusta last year?) Anyway, I think they do it because it's like a nervous tick. Perhaps they watch some of the old golfers and then develop the habit. When I asked some of the CanTour players about it, they said it was "to be tough" or "intimidation". Okay, so they were being a little facetious. This might sound crazy, but I really think it's just a (disgusting) habit they develop and it's cathartic for them to spit. Maybe it relaxes them or helps them deal with their emotions. It's gross, but hey, whatever works."
