The top stories at the Masters involve the three players at the top of the leaderboard at the 36-hole mark as well as Tiger Woods setting a record by making the cut in his 24th Masters. Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa and Scottie Scheffler are leading the way after two rounds with scores of 6 under par, and their performance on moving day should set the stage for a fascinating final round on Sunday. However, controversial Zach Johnson inserted himself into the headlines when he let loose with a brutal verbal onslaught that appeared to be directed at Masters patrons.

Johnson was trying to stay afloat in the Masters on the 12th hole, but he lost his cool when he missed a six-foot putt for a double bogey. Instead, he tapped in that miss for a triple bogey and followed with his invective. “F— off,” Johnson reportedly said.

It appeared that he was cursing at Masters golf fans who jeered him as he missed. After the round, he denied that he was sending any kind of message to the patrons. Instead, the curse was directed at himself for falling apart on the golf course.

Golf analyst Paige Spiranac, a former professional on the women's tour, was not having any of Johnson's explanation. Instead, she tweeted on X that his on-course verbal fit was unacceptable.

“The patrons at Augusta are unbelievably supportive and mild mannered,” Spiranac said. “You can’t find a more pleasant environment to play golf in. The fact ZJ said this proves he’s softer than baby poop. Such a bad look.”

Johnson goes into detail — and also fails to make the cut

Johnson shot a four-over 76 in the opening round and followed that up with a three-over 75 in the second round. The cut line settled at 6 over par, so he failed to make the cut in the first major championship of the year.

After the triple bogey on the par 3 12th hole, he bogeyed the par 5 13th hole. While he was able to record a birdie on the par 3 16th hole, it was not enough to allow him to play during the final rounds over the weekend.

Reporters asked Zach Johnson about the incident after his round, and he denied that he was cursing at golf fans.

“I swore at the patrons? That’s laughable,” he said. “That’s completely laughable. I can’t hear the patrons, number one. Number two, I just made a triple-bogey on the 12th hole that, evidently, is going to make me miss the cut, which at the time, I knew was pretty sensitive in the sense that I needed to keep making pars.”

The explosive golfer further explained his inability to hear the fans meant that he had no reason to react to their jeering.

“If I’ve said anything, which I’m not going to deny, especially if it’s on camera, one, I apologize, and two, it was fully directed towards myself entirely because I can’t hear anything behind me.”