Rory McIlroy has denounced the behaviour of American golf fans who abused him and his wife and said that the ugly scenes that unfolded during Europe's dramatic victory over the USA were 'unacceptable'.
McIlroy was celebrating with the European team after a 15-13 win over the US last night but was targeted relentlessly by American fans during the three days of the competition at Bethpage Black just outside New York.
He was subjected to continual taunts and attempts to disrupt his game. His wife, Erica, was hit by a can of beer thrown from the crowd and McIlroy's teammate, Shane Lowry, said the amount and level of abuse she received was 'astonishing'.
Erica was reportedly reduced to tears following a day of vitriolic abuse from American fans and even had a drink dunked on her. Her husband was subjected to relentless verbal abuse, including chants of 'f*** you Rory' and insults about their marriage.
'Erica is fine. She's a very, very strong woman. You know, she handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we're going to have a good time celebrating tonight', McIlroy said.
When he was asked how startled he had been to see police dogs patrolling the fairways and greens at Bethpage Black, he added: 'I wish they would have let the dogs off the leashes'.
And in a message for US fans he said: 'I think if I was an American, I would be annoyed. I didn't hear a lot of shouts for Scottie today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me. Support your players. That's the thing.
'We shut them up by our performance and how we played... and we're going to party like there's no tomorrow'.
Last night video emerged of McIlroy filming himself and the Europe team with the Ryder Cup trophy in their locker room, where they chanted: 'Are you watching, are you watching Donald Trump?'
And the President, a massive golf fan who made a high-profile attendance on day one at the course outside of Manhattan on Friday, reposted the video on his Truth Social account and was gracious in defeat, commenting: 'Yes, I'm watching. Congratulations!'
On Saturday he told one fan to 'shut the f*** up' before hitting the approach shot that won a critical fourballs match for him and partner Tommy Fleetwood.
Asked about it in Europe's victory press conference, he said his shot was 'very f***ing satisfying' with a smile and said that the team had 'shut them up' with their golf.
McIlroy was subjected to more taunts on Sunday as he lost a tight singles match to Scottie Scheffler and Europe survived a US fightback to crawl across the line to win 15-13.
McIlroy promised that fans going to Adare Manor in Ireland for the next Ryder Cup in 2027 would not repeat the antics of the US supporters here.
'Look,' McIlroy said, 'I don't think we should ever accept that behaviour in golf. I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.
'Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people.
'Sometimes this week we didn't see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup.
'But you know, we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable, and for me, it's -- you know, come and support your home team. Come and support your team'.
McIlroy reacted several times to abuse over the course of the weekend and snapped back at fans who tried to put him off while he was standing over a shot.
'Look, it was a rough week for all of us,' McIlroy 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.
'The police out there and the amount of security presence was insane. Look, nothing was going to happen. There wasn't going to be physical altercation or anything like that apart from maybe Tommy and Rosey up to the 16th tee yesterday.
'But there was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behaviour. It's a minority of the crowd. It's not the majority.
'The majority of people here are true golf fans and are respectful and let both teams have the same chance to hit the shots and play a fair contest.
'But you know, there was a small subset of people that behaved a little bit differently than that.
'Our families should be off-limits, but obviously it wasn't this week'.
In a powerful moment during the victorious Ryder Cup team's press conference, Erica also received support from Justin Rose and Shane Lowry.
'Can I just pick up on that, if you don't mind?' Rose said. 'I actually had no idea Erica had a beer thrown at her yesterday. Fair play to Erica, she didn't bring that to the team room, we didn't make that a big deal.
'That's news to me, that says a lot about the strength of Erica.'
Lowry added: '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. Kudos to her for that.'
On a breathtaking final day, which at one stage saw the hosts threaten to pull off one of the most unfathomable sporting comebacks of all time, Luke Donald's men ultimately held their nerve when it mattered to seal Europe's first triumph on American soil since 2012.
Shane Lowry's match-halving putt against Russell Henley first ensured they would retain the Ryder Cup in a moment of euphoric relief, before Tyrrell Hatton took a half-point of his own to officially wrap up the victory.
While they did so in much hairier fashion than expected, Europe's heroes will care very little after sinking their great rivals to win a Ryder Cup away from home.
And as the night fell at Bethpage Black on Sunday, the likes of Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Jon Rahm were only just getting the party started.
Joyous Europe stars stayed out on the grass and began their boozy celebrations, cracking open the champagne and spraying it wildly to mark their memorable win on enemy territory.
They also savored the moment with a large crowd of adoring fans, who had remained on the course to watch them dance the night away while behind barriers.
The celebrations also continued on the team bus, where Europe players were seen serenading McIlroy with his famous 'In Your Head' chant in footage captured by Justin Rose's caddie Mark Fulcher.
After a weekend marred by vile abuse from American fans, which spiraled out of control when McIlroy's wife Erica was struck by a drink on Saturday, it is Europe who have had the last laugh in New York.
McIlroy, who lost his singles match against Scottie Scheffler on the day, was targeted relentlessly by US supporters during the three days of the competition and subjected to continual taunts and attempts to disrupt his game.
And following the victory, the Northern Irishman described the ugly scenes that unfolded as ‘unacceptable’.
‘Look,’ McIlroy said, ‘I don't think we should ever accept that behaviour in golf. I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.
‘Golf has the ability to you unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people.
‘Sometimes this week we didn't see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup.
‘But you know, we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable, and for me, it's -- you know, come and support your home team. Come and support your team.
‘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. It's like, support your players. That's the thing.’
Meanwhile, Donald also clashed with USA captain Keegan Bradley over a little-known Ryder Cup rule that proved pivotal on the final day.
Europe sealed their 15-13 win thanks in part to half a point from Viktor Hovland - despite the Norwegian withdrawing from his singles match against Harris English.
Hovland was forced to pull out after aggravating a neck injury and that meant the 'secret envelope' protocol came into play. Under those rules, which have been invoked only twice since 1979, each captain named one player prior to the singles who they would bench in the event of an injury or illness on the opposing team. Bradley designated English.
The extra half-point proved critical as Europe withstood a final-day charge from the Americans. And after the match, Bradley fumed that the rule 'has to change.'
'I think it's obvious to everybody in the sports world, in this room,' he said. 'Nothing against Viktor. But that rule needs to change by the next Ryder Cup.'
When those comments were put to Team Europe during their press conference, Donald hit back: 'We have contracts for a reason, a captains' agreement for a reason, for situations that occur.
'The rule is the rule and it's been in place for a long time... I think it's been in place since 1971. The US have used it before. I think it happened in 1991 with Steve Pate.
'That was a tight Ryder Cup, too, 14.5-13.5. It happened in 1993 - Sam Torrance couldn't play with an injured toe. The US won that one.'
