Heather McMahan confessed to feeling like a witch burned at the stake following backlash over her jeering of Rory McIlroy at the Ryder Cup.
McMahan, 38, took part in a “F*** You, Rory” chant on Saturday, September 27, that broke out during the golf tournament. While she apologized for her actions, the comedian — and some of her fans — confessed to being unclear on why she became the scapegoat for the incident in the first place.
“Let me get this straight, thousands of men behaved poorly. They were screaming expletives; they were throwing things at women. The U.S. played poorly. The whole U.S. team performed poorly. And all of it is because of one female comedian,” influencer Pamela Wurst Vetrini said in a social media video on Sunday, September 28. “You have got to be kidding me.”
The TikToker then noted that McMahan was simply “a female comedian who walked into an event and did what she was paid for. She read the room. She read the energy of the crowd and she played into their energy.”
Vetrini’s remarks referred to the rowdiness that transpired at the Ryder Cup, which is a tournament between European and American athletes.
This year’s event took place in New York and when the U.S. quickly fell behind in the tournament the crowd became unruly, which according to some fans — and McMahan — was when she, the master of ceremonies, was allegedly blamed for the outbursts of American attendees.
“It’s [sic] was a really tough scene. I did not start the chant, but I deeply regret responding back to the crowd,” McMahan wrote in the comments section of Vetrini’s TikTok.
She noted, “I apologized but I agree it [was a] little Salem-witch-esque blaming me for the New York sports scene.”
McMahan raised eyebrows on Saturday when allegedly caused the crowd to jeer and taunt McIlroy, 36, when he was on the green.
According to social media footage, McMahan seemingly started the “F*** You, Rory” chant, which she has since denied.
McIlroy, who was part of the European team, shouted back at the hecklers, saying, “F*** you, f*** you, f*** you!”
The following day, a spokesperson for the PGA of America told BBC Sport that McMahan “has extended an apology to Rory McIlroy and Ryder Cup Europe” for her part in the incident.
The spokesperson added: “[She] has stepped down from hosting the first tee of the Ryder Cup.”
In addition to McIlroy getting hate from the crowd during the weekend, his wife, Erica Stoll, was also heckled. Stoll, 38, was hit by a beer thrown by a fan in attendance on Saturday, but she didn’t let it ruin her time.
Team Europe’s Shane Lowry told reporters following his team’s win over Team USA that he witnessed “the amount of abuse she received” over the past two days, calling it “astonishing.”
McIlroy, meanwhile, played down the drama, telling reporters that same day, “Erica’s fine, she’s a very strong woman. She handled everything with class and dignity like she always has and I love her. We’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
While he was impressed with his wife’s ability to take the high road, McIlroy added that in golf those types of fans are unacceptable.
“I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week. Golf teaches you how to respect people. Sometimes this week, we didn’t see that,” he said. “This should not be what is acceptable at the Ryder Cup. What happened here this week is not acceptable. It was a rough week for all of us, but we shut them up by our performance and how we played.”