By Craig Swan

Copyright dailyrecord

Justin Thomas stood facing his own fans with both hands in the air desperately appealing for them just to shut up. It wasn’t the moment where you knew things had turned ugly. That moment had long passed. But standing five yards from the 14th green, just a few feet away from Rory McIlroy as he walked towards vice-captain Thomas Bjorn, the exhaustion and exasperation of the constant barrage had finally seeped into everyone at Bethpage Black. By this point, state troopers were around every putting surface. Staring straight into the crowds. Even some police dogs were on hand as Record Sport can confirm having stood talking to one of the officers holding one of them on a leash down at the 15th tee. A rare quiet spot as the course crossed back over the road before heading into the next cauldron. There wasn’t even a ball struck when 40 guys began to chant “F**k you Rory” on Friday morning as his image appeared on a giant screen warming up for his opening match. From that moment on, it’s been a barrage in the direction of the European players. It’s not as if captain Luke Donald and the team weren’t expecting it. They had talked about it for almost two years in preparation and were ready to deal with the constant chirping, the snide remarks. Golf’s not like most sports. Loudmouths can get so close to players they can almost touch them. You can see that every time you watch the TV, but sometimes what you don’t see the walks taken off greens and onto the next tee. In some cases here at Bethpage, it can be a lengthy line and jibes and a tunnel of grief. That walk down the hill from the back of the 14th green, across the road that split the course and back onto the main side of the Black is a perfect example. Same at the back of the 11th. It’s just constant. Record Sport had the privilege of walking with Bob MacIntyre’s games on both of the first two mornings and some of the stuff made your ears bleed. It wasn’t that it was all nasty because it wasn’t. Most of it was just daft and, frankly. Unfunny. Americans uncles thinking two light beers has turned them into Kevin Bridges. It’s what Scottish people would refer to as “s***e patter.” But the players are so close and it’s so quiet when they are getting ready to hit shots, the taunts are audible. Personal. And in front of their friends and family, too. Saying don’t choke, you’ll miss this, shank it, all of that stuff is fair game. Whatever you think of it, it’s a just home crowd trying to annoy and put off an opponent. It’s not nasty and it’s fine. These are grown men and they can deal with that, no hassle. It has to be said, the Euro fans have been outstanding. They have backed their boys and stood up for them. There’s a mass of Scots, for example, who are right behind their boy. When one guy for no reason just yelled “I really don’t like you” straight at MacIntyre as he stood on the 10th green, he got some backchat straight away from a heavy Tartan accent. When another balloon became the 265th of the day to enquire loudly about where the Scot’s sun cream was, he got an instant and jagged retort from another Tartan fan who smiled at him and said: “In your maw’s bedroom.” But when they start to shout rubbish when boys are actually in the act of hitting shots, as happened to MacIntyre on the 17th on Friday and has happened to almost all of the Euro players at some point, that’s crossing the line in terms of golfy-type behaviour. Still there was level for the moron to go up. Saturday afternoon is where a more sinister line was crossed. Some ihe insults were vile. When players families can’t take it, that’s enough. Matt Fitzpatrick’s folks didn’t even bother going to New York because what was being said around their boy four years ago at Whistling Straits. That’s not rumour. He’s said so himself. As a real leader, it feels from the outside that McIlroy had accepted before he got to New York that, if they concentrate the stick on him, it might ensure less goes to team-mates. The lightning rod. No question there are less idiots to yell the bad abuse at some of Donald’s other 11 boys because the other three games on the course are ignored as the real loons chase the Northern Irishman around. But what he and sidekick Shane Lowry had to endure on Saturday afternoon was next level for a golf event. As ex-PGA Tour player Johnson Wagner, walking in McIlroy’s group during that torturous late-Saturday afternoon said: “Everyone in our group was horrified by the things being said to Rory. I feel it is going too far. I don’t want the Ryder Cup to set a precedent and think this is okay.” Donald is a captain of excellence and the 2019 Open champion is a terrific player. But the skipper is so shrewd he would have known both Friday and Saturday would get beyond rowdy in the late-afternoons and there was only man to have at McIlroy’s side in those situations on both days. That was his mate. Lowry gave it back. He’s had to listen to all sorts of garbage himself and he was like a big brother when it got ugly. Euro team-mates, officials, staff, everyone got around the players. Their response so far has been incredible. That’s not thick skin, that’s metal armour. Europe’s players must be exhausted listening to it and, to be honest, it seems like the Americans are, too. They might want to beat Europe, but these guys are all pals on a week-to-week basis. You could see it in Thomas ’ face. He looked mortified. In times when he should have been reading his own putts and taking time to breathe before his strikes, he was appealing to fans to give it a rest. From the outside, it feels like it’s been embarrassing for some of them and the majority of outstanding people who have welcomed the Euros. Proper golf fans. Passionately wanting their team to win without turning into unruly mouthpieces. Sport is getting like this. In the main, it’s social media. But sports stars can turn that off. You can’t turn off an eejit who is standing two yards away from verbally abusing you. If Europe goes onto win this Ryder Cup, it will be an incredible effort to have done so in the face of such adversity because nothing they face on a golf course will ever again come close to matching it.