McIlroy started the day by blowing kisses and waving his arms at the first tee as if to say "bring it on." But the heckling devolved into vulgarity and personal insults.
FARMINGDALE, NY — We expected loud. We expected passion. And we expected, as Collin Morikawa suggested before the start of the Ryder Cup, "chaos."
But this?
The U.S. fans crossed the line this weekend as the Europeans were steamrolling their team at Bethpage Black the first two days. And they didn't just step over it hesitantly. They obliterated it and then watched it disappear in the rear-view mirror.
This is a Ryder Cup that will be remembered for the few Ugly Americans who have bolstered the stereotype of the reputation of this country's sports fans.
And the ugliest of them all was the one with the loudest voice on the first tee. Heather McMahan, a comedian and podcaster, was hired as the master of ceremonies at the first tee to energize the crowd. For some reason, she believed the best way to do that job was to lead "F*** you, Rory," chants into a microphone, directing those chants at Rory McIlroy.
But McMahan only got the ball rolling. By the end of the day, as the Americans fell further behind, the behavior of some in the crowd got more embarrassing and more toxic.
So McMahan got her viral moment … along with bad publicity for the PGA of America, which was forced to issue a statement the morning of the final day saying she has apologized and "stepped down from hosting the first tee."
Really?
While U.S. captain and Palm Beach Gardens resident Keegan Bradley carefully chose his words, calling the fans "passionate," saying they have been "pretty good," and deflecting the question by saying he heard fans were "violent" in Rome two years ago at the Ryder Cup, his European counterpart Luke Donald was honest.
Donald accused the fans of "crossing the line," especially when it came to McIlroy and his second-day fourballs partner, Shane Lowry, who both live in Jupiter.
"What I consider crossing the line is personal insults and making sounds when they are trying to hit on their backswings or very close to when they are trying to go into their routines," said Donald, also a Jupiter resident. "That did happen a little bit."
As fans got ugly, more police were brought onto grounds of Ryder Cup
Multiple spectators were removed. At one point during the match in which McIlroy and Lowry defeated Palm Beach Gardens' Justin Thomas and Jupiter's Cameron Young, additional security in the form of bicycle cops, state police and park police was summoned.
"Yeah, it was a really challenging day," McIlroy said after he and Lowry won 2-up, part of a dominating day for the Europeans. "I'm going to sleep well tonight."
McIlroy started the day by blowing kisses and waving his arms at the first tee as if to say "bring it on." But as the day went on, and the U.S. was imploding, the heckling devolved into vulgarity and personal insults.
Having heard enough, McIlroy and Lowry at times each shouted back their own four-letter responses to fans during their fourballs match against Thomas and Young.
While on the sixth hole, McIlroy twice stepped away from his putt as the insults kept coming. The boos then got loud and McIlroy waited about four minutes for the crowd to settle.
On one hole, as McIlroy was on the tee box, Lowry looked into the stands, pointed and started in that direction before his caddie reached out to hold him back. Lowry then called over security, pointed, and asked that the fan be removed.
Thomas did his part to try to quiet the crowd, pleaded with them to calm down on nearly every hole by motioning his arms.
The insults varied but much was said about McIlroy's wife and Lowry's weight. Golfweek quoted one fan shouting, "how's your divorce going?" to McIlroy. He filed for divorce from his wife, Erica Stoll, in 2024. They have reconciled.
"We knew what we were going to get coming here," Lowry said. "It was a very tough day. Being out with Rory doesn't make it any easier. I think he's getting the brunt of it."
The emotion built as the tight match progressed with McIlroy and Lowry reacting to every big putt with emotion, most of which included pointing into the crowd.
The match was even entering the 14th hole. But when McIlroy's 9-foot birdie putt was followed by Thomas missing a 6-footer, putting the Europeans 1-up, McIlroy and Lowry let out emotional screams while pointing at the fans.
The Americans never caught up.
In the end, McIlroy and Lowry answered the best way they could, by notching another point for the Europeans. They entered the final day unbeaten: McIlroy 3-0-1, Lowry 1-0-1.
"I think we dealt with it very well," Lowry said. "I said at the start of the week, I don't know what way I'm going to deal with it but I'm going to be myself and I was myself out there today and thankfully that worked."
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: American fans, first tee MC, display embarrassing behavior at Ryder Cup
Category: General Sports
