Rory McIlroy has praised his wife Erica for handling what he described as “unacceptable abuse” during Europe’s Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage Black with “class, poise and dignity”.
The Northern Irishman added that “golf should be held to a higher standard” than the world witnessed in New York over the last three days after video footage emerged of a beer hitting his wife during unsavoury scenes.
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Europe eventually held off a strong United States comeback to triumph 15-13 in New York, prompting wild celebrations. It is just the third time since 2004 that Europe have won the Ryder Cup on American soil after 2004 at Oakland Hills and 2012 at Medinah. But questions afterwards inevitably revolved around the abuse meted out to Team Europe’s players, in particular to their talisman McIlroy.
The five-time major winner was serenaded by chants of ‘F— you, Rory’ on the first tee on both Friday and Saturday mornings. But it was the highly personal nature of some of the insults, particularly those concerning his wife, which hurt the most.
Erica Stoll was hit by a plastic pint glass thrown from nearby fans – Reuters/Paul Childs
McIlroy, 36, filed for divorce from Erica Stoll last year, saying the marriage was “irretrievably broken”. The couple reconciled a month later. American fans repeatedly brought that up, as well as unconfirmed rumours surrounding the reasons for their separation.
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Stoll, who accompanied McIlroy out on course for much of the three days of action, even found herself showered in beer on Saturday after a spectator slapped the plastic glass out of another fan’s hand as the couple walked away from the 17th green.
“Look, I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” McIlroy said in the Team Europe press conference on Sunday evening. “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.”
Asked how his wife was feeling – she was reported to have fled the 17th on Saturday in tears – McIlroy said: “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.”
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Justin Rose and Shane Lowry, sitting in the same press conference, both interjected at this stage.
“Can I just pick up on that,” Rose said, “if you don’t mind, because I actually had no idea that Erica had a beer thrown at her yesterday, so 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 and everybody on this team.”
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, and kudos to her for that.”
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Lowry’s remarks prompted clapping and cheering from the entire Europe team, and Europe captain Luke Donald agreed the abuse had crossed a line.
“We came into this in New York, and we knew New York was not going to be easy,” he said. “It was rough. It was brutal at times out there. It really was. It was nasty sometimes.”
‘European fans will know this is not acceptable’
McIlroy, who described their match as a “pillow fight” with neither player at their best, said he had tried to handle himself with “class”, but had been unable to hold himself back on some occasions, swearing back at fans and showing them the middle finger. He added he wanted fans at Adare Manor in two years’ time to act with far more decorum.
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“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.”
‘I wish they let the police dogs off the leashes’
“Look, it was a rough week for all of us,” McIlroy added. “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.”
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Asked about the number of police officers and police dogs who followed his matches, McIlroy joked: “I wish they had let the dogs off the leashes. The police out there and the amount of security presence was insane. Look, nothing was going to happen. There wasn’t going to be a physical altercation or anything like that apart from maybe Tommy [Fleetwood] and Rosey up to the 16th tee yesterday [when they got into an altercation with their opponents].
“But look, it was – 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.”
McIlroy admitted it had been “very f—— satisfying” to hit an approach to a couple of feet to help secure a vital fourballs win on Saturday. But he added that he was emotionally drained and “running on empty” during his defeat by world No 1 Scottie Scheffler on Sunday, when he again found himself targeted by fans, including some who squeaked rubber ducks as he teed off.
The ducks were included in “Cherry Fairway Fizz” drinks being sold at nearby bars. Some troublemakers were removed by security, which was heavily increased around McIlroy’s matches.
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The European team also chanted “two more years! Two more years” to captain Donald, although he did concede in the immediate aftermath of the victory that his “heart could not take another two years” of the captaincy.
“I’ll enjoy tonight first,” Donald quickly reverted to, refusing to rule anything out.
Abuse of McIlroy must be wake-up call to golf authorities
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In the end, Rory McIlroy was able to smile. Europe retained the Ryder Cup. He personally won 3½ points out of five. It completed an incredible year in which he also claimed his maiden Masters. That is what the history books will record.
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But my God, the Holywood star was put through the ringer here in New York. The treatment dished out to McIlroy at Bethpage should serve as a wake-up call to golf’s authorities.
That is not pearl-clutching. No one deserves to be sworn at repeatedly as they make their way around a golf course, let alone during their backswings or while addressing their putts.
The “F— you, Rory” chants which rained down on McIlroy on the first tee at Bethpage on Friday and again on Saturday – when they were, somewhat extraordinarily, led by the emcee appointed by the PGA of America – were actually at the mild end of the spectrum.
What was worse were the highly personal barbs which were regularly spat his way, the individual shouts about his wife Erica, who was called all sorts of names, the chants of “Balionis, Balionis” – the CBS Sports reporter with whom McIlroy was linked last year, with no apparent foundation.
McIlroy looks drained at the post-match press conference after one of the most testing experiences of his career – Getty Images/Jared Tilton
It was the same on Sunday. Billed as a mouthwatering match-up between the two best players in the world, it was actually rather a sad spectacle. McIlroy looked emotionally drained, as well he might. Scottie Scheffler was not at his best either. One senses that the American, a thoroughly decent sort, felt the whole weekend to have been rather tawdry. The world No 1 did, however, have the incentive of not wanting to be whitewashed in a home Ryder Cup, and with only himself to rely on in the singles, and no Bryson DeChambeau jumping around with his eyes out on stalks next to him, he was able to get into more of a rhythm.
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That luxury was denied to McIlroy. Any hope that it would be different on Sunday after all the criticism of New York’s fans the previous two days, proved misplaced. It was certainly quieter. And there were no chants of “f— you” on the opening tee. But the swearing and the abuse started on the first tee and never let up thereafter.
By the turn, Europe vice-captain Thomas Bjorn had a face like thunder. He was seen to approach McIlroy’s father Gerry and advise him that police were on hand if he heard anything untoward. But trying to find individual culprits was like playing whack-a-mole. They were everywhere and nowhere, voices emerging from the crowds which were 10-deep. Some of them were told by other Americans – clearly embarrassed – to “shut up”. But it made little difference.
On the 10th tee, McIlroy heard something, stepping back from his tee shot and attempting to have some fans removed. It emerged that the culprits may have been squeezing squeaky rubber ducks which came in a drink being sold at Bethpage Black called the “Cherry Fairway Fizz”. The fans were removed but it clearly affected McIlroy. He snap-hooked his drive and lost the hole.
McIlroy has such incredible energy it was no surprise to see him bounce back with a monster birdie on 10, and sensing danger, he tried to rally himself in the final few holes. But Scheffler is no pushover, especially with a higher power on his side. “Do it for Jesus, Scottie” the devout Christian was ordered by one fan.
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McIlroy parred the final seven holes as he limped towards the line, with Scheffler eventually taking his only point of the week 1up.
He seemed to disappear for a while as the remaining matches came in, perhaps decompressing after one of the least pleasant experiences of his life. But he later came out and put a brave face on it. “Incredible. To be able to do what we’ve done in Rome and then here, it shut a lot of people up,” he said. A few middle fingers aside, he deserves an enormous amount of credit for staying so dignified. Those that spat and swore at him, and even drenched his wife in beer, less so.