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RORY MCILROY WAS not shy about his dislike for Ryder Cup hecklers after a week that included taunts, insults and a beer thrown at his wife Erica Stoll.
Speaking following Europe’s victory over their US rivals at the Bethpage Black golf course in New York, McIlroy hit out at the verbal abuse from fans at the Ryder Cup over the weekend.
At one point, as McIlroy was heading to celebrate with Europe fans, his wife Erica was hit by a beer cup.
A video of the incident circulated widely afterwards showed the can glancing off her hat.
Discussing the atmosphere on Saturday, McIlroy said that he had “never experienced” similar before in his career, as he and teammates including Shane Lowry faced repeated heckling from US supporters.
It got to the point where the Co Down man swore at hecklers who disturbed him on a number of occasions as he tried to make putts on Day 2.
Asked after the fourth session if the crowd went too far, McIlroy replied: “When you play an away Ryder Cup, it’s really challenging. It’s not for me to say.
“People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”
McIlroy added: “It was intense. It was like something I’ve never experienced.”
The abuse emerged as a theme in the post-win press conference yesterday too, where the world’s number two expanded on his previous thoughts.
“Look, I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” he said when asked if the abuse was taking the game in a ‘dangerous direction’.
“I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week. Golf has the ability to you unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people.
“Sometimes this week we didn’t see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup. But you know, we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable, and for me, it’s – you know, come and support your home team. Come and support your team.
“I think if I was an American, I would be annoyed that people… I didn’t hear a lot of shouts for Scottie today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me.
It’s like, support your players. That’s the thing.
“Look, it was a rough week for all of us. But at the same time, we shut them up by our performance and how we played, and we tried to – I chirped back a few times because it got to me a few times, but we tried to handle everything that came our way with class and poise, and for the most part, I felt like we did that.”
However, he also noted that it was a ‘minority’ of the crowd who were behaving in such a manner.
Asked specifically about the incident involving his wife Erica, McIlroy said, “Erica is fine. She’s a very, very strong woman. You know, she handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
English golfer Justin Rose then jumped in to add: “Can I just pick up on that? If you don’t mind because I actually had no idea that Erica had a beer thrown at her yesterday. So fair play to Erica. She didn’t bring that to the team room. We didn’t make that a big deal. That’s news to me. That says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody on this team.”
Shane Lowry also praised the 38-year-old, explaining, “I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing and the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable, and kudos to her for that.”
Following their win, Europe’s Ryder Cup team good-naturedly taunted US President Donald Trump.
The European players, led by Rory McIlroy, who bore the brunt of the worst of the abuse at the Bethpage Black course in New York on Saturday, were shown in a video on social media chanting: “Are you watching, are you watching Donald Trump?”
Trump, a keen golf fan who attended the first day of play on Friday, replied on his Truth Social account: “Yes, I’m watching. Congratulations!”
A furious United States rally in the singles yesterday was not enough to overturn Europe’s strong start and the Europeans won 15-13.
The key man in that was Co Offaly’s Lowry, who cemented his own place in the tournament’s history.
