Rory McIlroy called out the “mob mentality” that led to “horrific” abuse hurled at himself, his wife and his daughter during September’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
The World No. 2 golfer from Northern Ireland opened up about his unpleasant experiences with the crowd in New York in a recent appearance on “The Overlap” podcast.
“In 2016 we played the Ryder Cup in Minnesota, and I thought that was bad. But I compare this year to 2016, and 2016 was nothing compared to some of the stuff we heard,” McIlroy said.
“We knew going to New York that we were going to get a lot of stick, a lot of abuse. For six months right before the competition, everyone was saying it’s going to be hostile.
“I didn’t (think it would be as hostile as it was). Look, I don’t care if people are saying whatever they’re saying to me, even the first tee announcers shouting: ‘F– you, Rory,’ which is nothing compared to the other stuff we heard.”
As McIlroy, 36, and Team Europe built a massive lead and then held on for a 15-13 victory, the five-time major winner said the heckling crossed the line.
“Erica, my wife, would say she’s a grown woman, she’s strong, she can handle that,” he added. “But then when it starts to get into your family, I heard stuff about my daughter that I couldn’t even repeat here. It’s horrific.
“But I think it’s sort of society and culture at the minute as well. It’s that mob mentality where people see other people doing something and then they think it’s OK. And then it sort of builds up.
“There’s 50,000 people there, and all it takes is 500 of those to be bad eggs and then it skews the atmosphere.”
McIlroy said U.S. captain Keegan Bradley could have done more to rein in the unruly fans.
“Keegan and I have talked about this,” McIlroy added. “You have to play into the home-field advantage, absolutely.
“But during the competition on Friday night and Saturday night, after the stuff that we heard on the course, there was an opportunity for either Keegan or some of the teammates to be like: ‘Let’s just calm down here. Let’s try to play this match in the right spirit.’
“Some of them did that, but obviously Keegan had the biggest platform of the week in being the captain. I feel like he could have said something on that Friday or Saturday night, and he didn’t.”
The 2027 Ryder Cup will take place at Ireland’s Adare Manor, south of Limerick.
