Comedian Heather McMahan has expressed remorse for her actions after stepping down as the master of ceremonies at the Ryder Cup following an expletive-laden chant directed at Team Europe golfer Rory McIlroy.
McMahan relinquished her duties as emcee after she was shown on video joining in a chant of “F— you, Rory!” while speaking into a microphone on the course on Long Island, New York, on Sept. 27. McMahan was there to warm up the crowd before the competition began at 7:10 a.m. local time at the Bethpage Black course.
She commented on the incident in response to a video shared on TikTok by content creator Pamela Wurst Vetrini in which Vetrini argues that McMahan was unfairly singled out despite the boorish behavior of the men in the crowd.
“Let me get this straight: thousands of men behaved poorly. They were screaming expletives, they were throwing things at women,” Vetrini says. “The U.S. played poorly, the whole U.S. team performed poorly, and all of it is because of one female comedian? You have got to be kidding me.”
McMahan, 38, responded in the comments by understanding Vetrini’s point but also taking some blame.
“It was a really tough scene,” she wrote. “I did not start the chant but I deeply regret responding back to the crowd — i apologized but i agree it (was a) little Salem-witch esque blaming me for the New York sports scene.”
McMahan also apologized directly to McIlroy, according to a statement issued by the PGA of America to BBC Sport.
“Heather has extended an apology to Rory Mcllroy and Ryder Cup Europe and has stepped down from hosting the first tee of the Ryder Cup,” the statement said.
The incident was part of an overall atmosphere at the biennial tournament between Team Europe and the U.S. that McIlroy called “unacceptable and abusive.”
Europe defeated the Americans 15-13 to win its second straight Ryder Cup and first on U.S. soil in 13 years.
McIlroy endured expletive-laden and homophobic chants as well as comments about his marital issues with his wife, Erica. A fan was also seen on video throwing a beer at his wife on the course.
“This should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy said at the Ryder Cup press conference on Sept. 28. “We will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable.”
“I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week,” the Northern Irish golfer said. “Golf has the ability to unite people. … It teaches you how to respect people. Sometimes this week, we didn’t see that.”