Rory McIlroy and the European team got the last laugh at the Ryder Cup, but not until after a weekend of heckling from U.S. fans that the star golfer called “unacceptable and abusive behavior.”
The Europeans defeated the Americans 15-13 on Sept. 28 in the biennial event pitting a team of all-star golfers from across Europe against their counterparts from the United States. The win marked their first against the U.S. team on American soil since 2012.
This year’s competition was held at Bethpage Black, a course on Long Island, New York, which became a raucous home atmosphere for the American team.
Here’s what to know about the controversy.
Rory McIlroy and His Wife Endure Taunts and More
McIlroy endured jeers and expletive-laden chants from the alcohol-fueled crowd all weekend as the most high-profile player on the European team.
Typical golf etiquette appeared to go out the window as McIlroy, 36, was showered with homophobic taunts as well as comments about his marital issues with his wife, Erica. He initially filed for divorce in May 2024, but the two reconciled a month later.
Comedian and actor Heather McMahan, who was serving as the Ryder Cup master of ceremonies, stepped down after video was shown of her joining in a chant of “F— you, Rory!” while speaking into a microphone on the course on Sept. 27.
Fans were also yelling while McIlroy was trying to hit shots on the course. At one point in the competition on Sept. 27, he turned his head and told a fan to “shut the f— up!” while he was trying to hit a shot. On another hole, he paused repeatedly and stepped back before swinging because of fans yelling.
An Ugly Incident Involved McIlroy’s Wife
A fan launched a beer at McIlroy and his wife during play on Sept. 27, which was caught on camera.
“Erica is fine. She is a very, very strong woman,” McIlroy said at the Ryder Cup press conference on Sept. 28. “She handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity like she always has, and I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
McIlroy’s Irish teammate, Shane Lowry, witnessed the incident.
“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,” Lowry said at the press conference.
Opposing Players Exchange Words on the Course
Another testy moment came on Sept. 27 during a fourball match between Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler and Europeans Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose.
Rose was irked when DeChambeau’s caddie, Greg Bodine, stepped in his line when he was getting set to putt on the 15th hole. Rose waved his arm for Bodine to back up.
On the walk to the 16th hole, DeChambeau got in Rose’s ear about reprimanding his caddie. Fleetwood then stepped in and exchanged words with DeChambeau.
Tempers simmered as the two sides shook hands after the match, which was won by Rose and Fleetwood.
“We both have a lot on our minds and it’s intense out there,” Rose said at the press conference afterward. “I said to them, ‘If I should have done it a different way, I apologize.’ But other than that, I had to step up and hit a huge putt with a lot going on. From my point of view, I was just trying to protect my own sort of environment to execute. It’s all part of it. It’s up to them if they want to take it the wrong way but from my point of view, there’s no malintent.”
“I mean, I think it was a little bit disrespectful, but Justin Rose told me after on the green that they had talked it out,” Team USA captain Keegan Bradley said at the press conference.
McIlroy Calls Ryder Cup Fan Behavior Unacceptable
Following Europe’s second straight victory in the Ryder Cup, McIlroy reflected on the crowds from the weekend.
The atmosphere at the Ryder Cup is often heightened from the typically genteel behavior at a normal golf tournament due to the competition between Europe and the U.S., but McIlroy felt it went too far on Long Island.
“This should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy said 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 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.”
“I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week,” he said. “Golf has the ability to unite people. … It teaches you how to respect people. Sometimes this week, we didn’t see that.”
He later said, “There was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behavior, but look, that’s a minority of the crowd. It’s not the majority.”
McIlroy also relished Team Europe’s victory in a hostile atmosphere.
“Look, it was a rough week for all of us,” he said. “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.”