Farmingdale, NY (AP) – Rory Mcilroy has helped Europe Win the Ryder Cup And then called the hostile New York -mixed for ‘unacceptable and offensive behavior’.
During his five games in Bethpage Black, McIlroy passed a stream of insults about everything, from his personal life to failures from the past on the golf course. People shouted while he stood in line to swing and put. His wife was hit by a cup of beer.
“What happened here this week is not acceptable,” said McIlroy on Sunday after he had gone 3-1-1 to help Europe beat the United States 15-13. His only loss came in a Sunday singles match with World No. Scottie Scheffler, who had also played in all five sessions, that was more a slog than a unspoilt, shot-for-shot fight against the world’s top two players.
It was the most blunt assessment of McIlroy so far from a New York crowd of which Europe is fully expected to be noisy and passionate about its captain Luke Donald even gave players virtually reality glasses to get used to the noise but perhaps not this rough or downright irritating.
The 36-year-old Northern Irish, who came to Bethpage on a mission to win his second Ryder cup on American soil, sometimes pushed back and swanged to his HEKLERS or stepped away from a shot until the destroyed masses settled.
On Saturday he told noisy fans to “close the (expletive) up” before he hit his approach of 3 feet to set up a putt in a morning match in the morning. When a fan shouted, “You’re not so good, Rory!” He replied, “I am (expletive) very good.”
“I am,” McIlroy added to the press conference of the winners. “Really good.”
While there was more golf to play, McIlroy continued to be guarded in his interviews after the game. On Saturday asked if he thought fans had exceeded a line, he said, “People can be their own judge or they took it too far or not.” After all, he still had to deal with them on Sunday.
With the hustle and bustle and the Ryder Cup in hand, the five -time big champion let go.
“I don’t think we should ever accept that in Golf,” McIlroy told reporters, his European teammates and captain who delve into the stage of the interview room. “I think golf should be kept on a higher standard than what was seen this week.”
Richard Heathcote via Getty images
Then he became philosophical about the sport that made him rich and popular, where he has worked since he has worked a boy that he has achieved so much, including the Grand Slam career.
“Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play according to the rules. It teaches you how to respect people,” said McIlroy. “Sometimes we didn’t see this week. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup.”
The perpetrators, he noticed, were the minority of a crowd full of ‘real Golffans’ who were ‘respectful and both teams had the same chance to hit the shots and play an honest match’.
When Europe started a hot start after the first day and led 5 1/2 to 2 1/2, the second player in the world became European enemy no. 1 under a small but vocal subset of the crowd. While European fans Serenade with their go-to-cheer, a version of a song from the cranberries that replaces “Zombie” with “Rory”, American fans did everything to turn him off his game.
They reminded him of his missed putt to lose the US Open in Pinehurst in 2024. They fooled his length. They mock his Irish heritage. They went after his wife.
“I was there for two days with Erica Mcilroy, and the amount of abuse she received was amazing,” said McIlroy’s friend and teammate Shane Lowry. “The way she was there to support her husband and support her team was incredible and a compliment to her.”
Lowry took on the role of Bodyguard and bouncer when the tensions rose on Saturday during the four -ball match of him and McIlroy. The Irishman told fans and jaw with Hecklers, banging his chest, marched over the green and sweared to the crowd after sinking a crucial putt.
A European victory was almost certain by Sunday. The visitors had risen 11 1/2 to 4 1/2 that entered the final round. No side had ever returned from such a shortage – and that is still not.
While the US is setting up an indictment, helped by Scheffler’s victory over McIlroy, there were songs of “US!” And a few insults threw McIlroy’s way, but fans largely behaved. More than a dozen state troopers flanked their group and a marshal warned spectators to “keep it clean”.
Eventually it was McIlroy who had the last word. In April he won the Masters after years of trying to complete the Grand Slam career. Now he won his sixth Ryder Cup in eight attempts and improves his record in the event until 19-14-5. And the next one is a real home game, in Adare Manor in Ireland.
“We will be sure that we say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable,” he said. “And for me it is, you know, your home team.
“I think if I was an American, I would be irritated that people – I didn’t hear much shouting for scottie today, but I heard a lot of screaming against me. It’s like supporting players. That’s the thing.”
