Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry produced an outstanding performance on Saturday to help Team Europe reach the brink of retaining the Ryder Cup. The all-Irish pair teamed up to defeat American duo Justin Thomas and Cam Young in the fourballs. However, the contest was blighted by numerous examples of the European pair being abused by US fans at Bethpage Black, and the true extent of the unacceptable behaviour that they and their families were forced to endure has now been revealed.
To their credit, McIlroy and Lowry didn’t allow the heckles of the crowd to distract them from the job at hand. Rory showed off some sublime approach shots and putting, while Lowry more than held up his end of the bargain as the Europeans claimed a crucial victory.
Tensions would spill over long before the end of the match, with Thomas and Young even having to step in to urge the crowd to settle down. Their efforts were in vain.
After Lowry completely lost his cool with a spectator when McIlroy was about to play a shot on the fourth hole, police had to be called in to de-escalate the situation. Moments after he sunk a putt on the next hole, Shane turned to one of the fans who had been abusing himself and McIlroy, yelling: “Come on… f*** you!”
While clips of both McIlroy and Lowry’s reactions to the fan abuse have gone viral, exact details of what was said to the pair to spark those responses remained unclear. However, eye-witness Joel Beall, who was following the European pair as part of his Ryder Cup coverage for Golf Digest, has listed some of the insults and provacation that he heard from American fans – and it makes for truly grotesque reading.
“It’s no longer golf” – McIlroy and Lowry Endured ‘Toxic’ Environment at Ryder Cup
The crowd’s attempts to goad Rory started off relatively harmlessly, with cries of “Leprechaun!” “Overrated!” and “Take out the Irish trash,”​​​ all being heard at the first tee. When those jibes didn’t knock the 36-year-old off his stride, shouts of “choker” and “Remember Pinehurst,” were directed at the five-time major winner – in reference to his heartbreaking loss at the 2024 US Open.
The shouts became progressively more graphic as time went on, with McIlroy and Lowry both being subjected to “homophobic slurs that cannot be printed”. Overall, Beall estimated that Rory “received 30 f-bombs from the crowd while playing the first four holes”.
The abuse wasn’t just reserved for the 2025 Masters winner, either, as Lowry was the target of constant comments about his weight, with several chants starting referencing the weight loss pill, Ozempic.
Arguably the worst of the abuse was directed at McIlroy’s wife, Erica Stoll. A number of comments made by fans made fun of McIlroy’s past marital problems. One fan asked obnoxiously: “Have you patched things up with the Mrs.?” Erica was also the target of a variety of sexually explicit comments. At least one of those caused security to eject the fans responsible. Rory reached his limit when it came to the crowd’s behaviour at the 16th hole, as the Northern Irishman was heard reacting to booing by telling one fan to “shut the f*** up.”
McIlroy’s spouse even appeared to be struck with a beer thrown from the crowd at the 17th green. She was quickly ushered away from the ugly scene.
Asked about the abuse in his press conference after the day’s play, McIlroy attempted to play down the incidents as one of the challenges that must be overcome when playing an away Ryder Cup.
“When you play an away Ryder Cup, it’s really, really challenging. It’s not for me to say. People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”
Beall, though, was far more cutting in his words on the crowd’s behaviour, calling it “toxic”, declaring that some of the incidents towards the end of the match “no longer had anything to do with golf.”
Team Europe take a record 11½-4½ lead into Sunday’s 12 singles matches. Luke Donald’s men need just three points to secure a first away Ryder Cup win since 2012.