{"id":263044,"date":"2025-09-29T05:34:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T05:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/263044\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T05:34:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T05:34:12","slug":"watch-rory-mcilroy-fumes-at-unacceptable-abuse-of-wife-erica-after-beer-thrown-at-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/263044\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: Rory McIlroy fumes at \u2018unacceptable abuse\u2019 of wife Erica after beer thrown at her"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy has praised his wife Erica for handling what he described as \u201cunacceptable abuse\u201d<\/a> during Europe\u2019s Ryder Cup<\/a> victory at Bethpage Black with \u201cclass, poise and dignity\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman added that \u201cgolf should be held to a higher standard\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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Europe eventually held off a strong United States comeback to triumph 15-13<\/a> 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\u2019s players, in particular to their talisman McIlroy.<\/p>\n

The five-time major winner was serenaded by chants of \u2018F— you, Rory\u2019<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\"Wife<\/p>\n

Erica Stoll was hit by a plastic pint glass thrown from nearby fans – Reuters\/Paul Childs<\/p>\n

McIlroy, 36, filed for divorce from Erica Stoll last year, saying the marriage was \u201cirretrievably broken\u201d. The couple reconciled a month later. American fans repeatedly brought that up, as well as unconfirmed rumours surrounding the reasons for their separation.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s hand as the couple walked away from the 17th green.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I don\u2019t think we should ever accept that in golf,\u201d McIlroy said in the Team Europe press conference on Sunday evening. \u201cI think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cGolf 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\u2019t see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how his wife was feeling \u2013 she was reported to have fled the 17th on Saturday in tears \u2013 McIlroy said: \u201cErica is fine. She\u2019s 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\u2019re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Justin Rose and Shane Lowry, sitting in the same press conference, both interjected at this stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I just pick up on that,\u201d Rose said, \u201cif you don\u2019t mind, because I actually had no idea that Erica had a beer thrown at her yesterday, so fair play to Erica. She didn\u2019t bring that to the team room. We didn\u2019t make that a big deal. That\u2019s news to me. That says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody on this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowry added: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lowry\u2019s remarks prompted clapping and cheering from the entire Europe team, and Europe captain Luke Donald agreed the abuse had crossed a line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came into this in New York, and we knew New York was not going to be easy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was rough. It was brutal at times out there. It really was. It was nasty sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018European fans will know this is not acceptable\u2019<\/p>\n

McIlroy, who described their match as a \u201cpillow fight\u201d with neither player at their best, said he had tried to handle himself with \u201cclass\u201d, 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\u2019 time to act with far more decorum.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe 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\u2019s, you know, \u2018Come and support your home team. Come and support your team.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if I was an American, I would be annoyed that people \u2013 I didn\u2019t hear a lot of shouts for Scottie today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me. It\u2019s like \u2018Support your players\u2019. That\u2019s the thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I wish they let the police dogs off the leashes\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, it was a rough week for all of us,\u201d McIlroy added. \u201cBut at the same time, we shut them up by our performance and how we played, and we tried to \u2013 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Asked about the number of police officers and police dogs who followed his matches, McIlroy joked: \u201cI 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\u2019t 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].<\/p>\n

\u201cBut look, it was \u2013 there was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behaviour. It\u2019s a minority of the crowd. It\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlroy admitted it had been \u201cvery f—— satisfying\u201d 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 \u201crunning on empty\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

The ducks were included in \u201cCherry Fairway Fizz\u201d drinks being sold at nearby bars. Some troublemakers were removed by security, which was heavily increased around McIlroy\u2019s matches.<\/p>\n

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The European team also chanted \u201ctwo more years! Two more years\u201d to captain Donald, although he did concede in the immediate aftermath of the victory that his \u201cheart could not take another two years\u201d of the captaincy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll enjoy tonight first,\u201d Donald quickly reverted to, refusing to rule anything out.<\/p>\n

Abuse of McIlroy must be wake-up call to golf authorities<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

‘<\/p>\n

In the end, Rory McIlroy was able to smile. Europe retained the Ryder Cup. He personally won 3\u00bd 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.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s authorities.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The \u201cF— you, Rory\u201d chants which rained down on McIlroy on the first tee at Bethpage on Friday and again on Saturday \u2013 when they were, somewhat extraordinarily, led by the emcee appointed by the PGA of America<\/a> \u2013 were actually at the mild end of the spectrum.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cBalionis, Balionis\u201d \u2013 the CBS Sports reporter with whom McIlroy was linked last year, with no apparent foundation.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

McIlroy looks drained at the post-match press conference after one of the most testing experiences of his career – Getty Images\/Jared Tilton<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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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\u2019s fans the previous two days, proved misplaced. It was certainly quieter. And there were no chants of \u201cf— you\u201d on the opening tee. But the swearing and the abuse started on the first tee and never let up thereafter.<\/p>\n

By the turn, Europe vice-captain Thomas Bjorn had a face like thunder. He was seen to approach McIlroy\u2019s 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 \u2013 clearly embarrassed \u2013 to \u201cshut up\u201d. But it made little difference.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cCherry Fairway Fizz\u201d. The fans were removed but it clearly affected McIlroy. He snap-hooked his drive and lost the hole.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cDo it for Jesus, Scottie\u201d the devout Christian was ordered by one fan.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cIncredible. To be able to do what we\u2019ve done in Rome and then here, it shut a lot of people up,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy has praised his wife Erica for handling what he described as \u201cunacceptable abuse\u201d during Europe\u2019s Ryder…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":263045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[29108,137528,115620,440,1430,1478,8656,62,57666,67,132,68,137527],"class_list":{"0":"post-263044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-bethpage-black","9":"tag-erica-mcilroy","10":"tag-erica-stoll","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-golf","13":"tag-rory-mcilroy","14":"tag-ryder-cup","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-team-europe","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-wife-erica"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115285962676773636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}