FARMINGDALE, NY — As Team USA’s Ryder Cup humiliation continued unabated at Bethpage Black on Saturday, a small number of home fans directed a torrent of unacceptable abuse at Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy as the European pair took on Justin Thomas and Cameron Young in an afternoon fourball.
McIlroy bristled at heckling during the opening three sessions of the tournament. A number of fans disrupted the Northern Irish golfer as he addressed the ball on several occasions on Friday and Saturday.
That appeared to mark McIlroy down for special treatment from a small but unsavory section of the home crowd during the Saturday afternoon fourball, which began at the very first hole with the master of ceremonies Heather McMahan — an actress and comedian — leading a “f—k you Rory” chant. She has since stepped down.
Lowry, McIlroy’s close friend, was also on the receiving end of abuse during the round.
The abuse became personal, with some fans taking aim at family members of the European pair. Others made jibes at Lowry’s weight in a despicable display of crassness.
Tensions boiled over as early as the fourth hole when McIlroy backed off a putt after a fan yelled an obscenity at him. He eventually missed the putt before Lowry stepped up and drained an eagle putt to win the hole and send the European pair into an early lead.
The Irish golfer then directed his attention toward the heckler, beating his chest and audibly yelling “F—k you” at the spectator.
The abuse intensified further as the round progressed and it became apparent that any hopes of a US recovery became wafer-thin, with Europe taking the lead in each of the four matches and threatening to take a nine-point lead into the singles on Sunday.
Several fans were reportedly ejected after hurling abuse at McIlroy and Lowry later in the round, while the PGA of America was forced to provide extra security for the matchup.
Lowry and McIlroy would go on to seal a 2UP victory on the 18th hole as Europe took three of the four Saturday afternoon matches to move into an almost unassailable seven-point lead ahead of the final day.
Both players let out roars of delight on the 18th green after showing remarkable mental strength to keep Thomas and Young at bay amid a gauntlet of abuse.
Speaking afterward, Lowry said the heckling was something he had “never experienced” on a golf course before.
Lowry added that he felt the heckling was particularly intense during his and McIlroy’s match because of the Long Island crowd’s attention on McIlroy.
“It was a very tough day,” Lowry said. “Being out with Rory doesn’t make it any easier. I think he’s getting the brunt of it.”
McIlroy, on the other hand, said it is not for him to say if fans crossed a line during the Saturday afternoon session, but said Ryder Cups are “really challenging” for visiting teams because of the partisan atmosphere.
McIlroy credited Lowry for having his back throughout the challenging round.
“I’m so proud of this guy,” McIlroy said of Lowry. “He was with me — he was there for me all day. I’m drained, to say the least, and he dug in big time when he had to.”
European captain Luke Donald said the crowd was loud and raucous but said he believed behavior crossed a line if it involved personal insults or making noise as a player is preparing to hit a ball.
Donald said his team had prepared for a challenging atmosphere in the lead-up to the Ryder Cup and added that animosity from the crowd can sometimes motivate players on the receiving end.
“I think some people find that motivating,” Donald said. “I think Rory and Shane certainly looked like they were sort of almost enjoying the difficult environment out there.”
American captain Keegan Bradley, meanwhile, said he had not heard of any specific incidents but said home fans were “passionate” during the Ryder Cup. The American captain appeared to fire shots at the European fans at the 2023 Ryder Cup, stating that he had heard “a lot of stories” about Europeans in Rome two years ago.
“You’re always going to have fans that cross the line, and that’s unfortunate,” Bradley said.
He added that home fans were “angry” about the performances on the golf course and said Ryder Cups are “full of passionate fans.”
“Part of it is our fault. We are not playing up to the standards that they want to see,” Bradley said.
He later walked back that comment, stating that American performances on the course did not contribute to heckling off it.
To be sure, most fans engaged in the good-natured banter typical of a Ryder Cup throughout the day, with increasingly vocal European fans poking fun at their American fans for their limited repertoire of songs.
Chants such as “You’ve only got one song” and “Is this a library?” were commonplace as the matches came down the home straight, while European fans serenaded departing American players with strains of “Cheerio” and choruses of “This is embarrassing.”
To their credit, the American contingent, often made fun of for their continuous “USA” chants, saw humor in their humiliating defeat.
As Europe added two further points to their ever-growing tally, a fairly vocal contingent of home supporters chirped up with a humorous chorus of “I believe that we will lose” in a playful take on the much-maligned “I believe that we will win” chant.
In one good-natured interaction between McIlroy and an American fan during the Saturday morning session, one spectator asked the European star whether he would give a thumbs up or thumbs down to Long Island as he approached the 16th green, to which McIlroy responded with a thumbs up.
“Great, but I still hope you miss your putt,” the fan responded, drawing laughter from the crowd.
But it was McIlroy – and Lowry – who had the last laugh on Saturday as they stared down incessant abuse to move Europe ever closer to an emphatic victory on US soil.
