I’m not a golf person, and the only reason why I knew that the Ryder Cup was happening in recent days was because tennis people were talking about it! The Ryder Cup is the tournament where European pro-golfers are on the same team, facing off against a team of American pro-golfers. This year’s Ryder Cup was staged in America. Team Europe won, but they had one of the worst experiences of their lives because they had to deal with the most toxic American crowd in golf history. The Americans were especially nasty to Rory McIlroy and his wife Erica. Americans even threw a beer at Erica. Disgusting.
After a weekend of absolute bedlam at Bethpage, the dust is settling on an extraordinary Ryder Cup competition. The headline is that Europe pulled off a stunning victory on foreign soil, a win that was at times breathtaking and breathless, exhilarating and excruciating in equal measure. The American team was in danger of complete humiliation, but on Sunday the US golfers managed to recover and almost pulled off what would have been arguably the greatest comeback in sports.
There was so much to celebrate and yet, once all the champagne spray has dried, there is still a bitter taste in the mouth. Many of the European players were subjected to dreadful abuse from the galleries, unprintable vulgarities and some deeply personal insults. Rory McIlroy was the lightning rod for the invective, and so was his wife.
“I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing,” said Irishman Shane Lowry. “And the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable.”
The situation around McIlroy’s group on Saturday afternoon became so intense that police officers with dogs were brought onto the course for protection.
“I wish they had let the dogs off the leashes,” quipped McIlroy, who admitted that he engaged with the fans on the occasions when it all became too much. A viral video from the 18th hole on Saturday morning shows McIlroy turning to the fans and telling them to “Shut the f**k up!” He then composed himself and dispatched his approach to within two feet of the pin. It was “very f**king satisfying,” he joked.
McIlroy made light of it in his team’s moment of glory, but he won’t gloss over the abuse that he and his wife were subjected to; a beer was even thrown at her in the Saturday four-balls.
“The police out there and the amount of security presence was insane,” he said. “Nothing was going to happen, there wasn’t going to be a physical altercation, but there was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive.”
McIlroy was at pains to state that it was only a minority of the fans who were out of line, but their behavior certainly left a mark on what was otherwise a wonderful sporting occasion.
“It should be off-limits,” he said, “But obviously it wasn’t this week. 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.”
Ryder Cups are known to be rowdy, and the home team counts on the support of their fans. Questions will now be asked about whether the host team played a role in fomenting the aggression. On the eve of the tournament, Collin Morikawa called for “chaos” and the event’s master of ceremonies, Heather McMahan, stepped down on Sunday after she had led the fans in a chant of “f**k you Rory” with a live microphone.
Rightly or wrongly, I’ve always had the sense that the American golf community is overwhelmingly Republican. This Ryder Cup situation backs up that belief – this is the Trumpification of American culture in real time. The pettiness and nastiness, the coarsening of culture. Where Americans think it’s perfectly acceptable to throw a beer at a golfer’s wife and scream obscenities at European golfers. It’s not “heckling” and it’s not a matter of the Europeans needing a thicker skin. The American fans were absolutely in the wrong here.
Yelling at players like this is absolutely bush league.
Completely unacceptable behavior.
Throw out every idiot that’s doing this.
— Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) (@LouStagner) September 27, 2025
Apparently someone in the crowd threw a drink at Rory & his wife after the match today.
In the video Rory appears to be wiping her hat off & asking if she’s okay, then moves further away from the USA fans.
Another tough look for the fans today if true. pic.twitter.com/GphltmL6Zr
— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) September 28, 2025
"What happened here this week is not acceptable."
Rory McIlroy speaks on the fans at Bethpage Black. pic.twitter.com/gMd7OzIUQ4
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) September 29, 2025
Team Europe won the Rider Cup and decided to directly mock Donald Trump🤡🤣 pic.twitter.com/yzFb4hozVR
— Mario (@PawlowskiMario) September 29, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- UK: The Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland on 13 July 2025: Pictured: Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland makes his way to the 1st tee during the final round of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland North Berwick The Renaissance Club Scotland Copyright: xAlexxToddx,Image: 1021614251, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Alex Todd/Avalon
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- The 153rd Open Championship 2025 Rory Mcilroy In action on the 1st hole the 2nd day The 153rd Open Championship, Royal Portrush Golf Club Dunluce Links in Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, from Thursday, 17 July to Sunday, 20 July 2025. Copyright: xMarkxNewcombex,Image: 1023110656, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Mark Newcombe/Avalon
How embarrassing.
Crowds at the Ryder Cup have been getting loud and rowdy since the 1990’s, and each year is a little worse than the last. Having said that, the worst behavior this year came from people who showed up just because they knew Trump was coming. Sadly, my home island has gotten very Trumpy. And hand in hand with Trump support comes the belief that you don’t have to be considerate of other people, and you can show the world how nasty and vulgar you are without repercussion.
A friend of mine went this year and I can confirm – he said the crowd had a ton of non-golf people there for Trump and it was not a good experience.
It’s my home island too and I am so not surprised by this behavior.
Yes, as soon as I read “Bethpage” I said “well, of course”. Long Islanders (I’m born and raised but no longer living there) have always been loud and prone to obnoxious behavior but the trump years have made it so much worse. It is almost all red, even Nassau County.
I grew up on Long Island (we moved to LI I was 4, I left at 18 and only go back to visit because my 80-something mother refuses to leave). I was totally unsurprised by the behavior.
For the crowd at Bethpage Black to have been polite would have been astonishing to me.
I am with the Europeans on this one.
Golf swings rich and white, so it follows that it’s very Republican. What is crazy to me is that golf is supposed to be a sport ABOUT decorum and sportsmanship. Sure, you can get a bit rowdy at the Ryder Cup, but this isn’t football. Throwing a beer at someone is just wildly inappropriate. It’s assault. I would be pressing charges.
But again, this goes to show us that rich white (Republicans) people never cared about appearing civil. Their talk of how minorities just don’t know how to act in certain spaces was just that…talk…They clearly don’t know how to behave, and they revel in vulgarity and violence.
Yes. I know almost nothing about golf, but I expected the most riotous stuff people would do watching a golf match was sip champagne or something.
It’s like MAGA are a mob just wanting to vent frustrations and hate everyone foreign, even if they just come to play a match.
Also, where are the supposedly conservative old fashioned ideas of chivalry against women?
That was completely unacceptable and xenophobic behavior.
I do hope this wakes some European football fans up to their treatment of African players too.
i wonder if Fifa are taking note, i reckon it will be a blood bath
Sadly FIFA is one of the most corrupt organisations in the world, there is no way the World Cup is moving. Infantino is massively on the take and brown envelopes have already been exchanged. They’ve just recently moved into an office in Trump Tower, it’s going nowhere I’m afraid.
But what will happen is that non-American crowds will choose go to the matches in Canada and Mexico instead of coming to the US.
I have a child who will be graduating from the University of Toronto during the World Cup. I’m dreading having to find/pay for a hotel room (we only know “June 2026” for graduation – the university hasn’t announced the actual dates yet).
Based on the 2025 fifa club World Cup this year, I don’t think it will be moving. This years fifa club World Cup in the US generated the most revenue out of any club fifa World Cup events. Success for something that was hardly advertised in the U.S. I’m also not sure if you read, but the 2026 World Cup tickets already generated more than 1.5 million interests (submissions) within 24 hours for the 1st draw. I know because my husband is a big soccer (football) fan.
I get the same feeling about the republicans and golf. The stink that Donald Trump is going to leave on America is going to take so many years to clean off, if it ever does. I feel like this is the new normal for America.
“The new normal for America” I wish so much that I could disagree with that, but unfortunately I think you are entirely correct. Trump has emboldened these creeps, who now seem to compete to find a new lower level of behavior. I’m embarrassed by these idiot fans, and further embarrassed by the mc who thought it was funny to lead that chant. Will any civility survive the Trump years?
Basically, the reputation of Americans has never really been glorious abroad due to American imperialism, but the period when their image hit rock bottom was during the George W. Bush era. Most American tourists had to hide their nationality, whether in Europe, Asia, or Africa, because anti-American sentiment was very strong, especially with the Iraq War. I remember seeing on TV that Americans were portrayed as violent, hamburger-eating idiots. It was really under Obama that their image began to improve. And this often seems to be the case on the international stage: Republicans damage America’s image, and Democrats clean up the mess.
I’m a big golf fan. As a previous comment notes, golf is supposed to be about fair play and decorum. I just couldn’t believe the treatment Rory and his wife received. However, as an Irish person, it was just glorious when Lowry sank his putt. Even better when Europe was able to win outright.
The mocking of Donald Trump was icing on the cake 🙂
However, if I were FIFA or indeed the IOC, I’d be looking into contingency plans.
The World Cup is also being held in Canada and Mexico so the matches there will be fine.
But he already wants to move the matches away from blue cities so yeah FIFA needs to plan. They probably won’t because they did have a World Cup in Qatar with crazy hot temps and slave labour.
The term “Ugly American” comes from a reason. (I’m American)
Americans have always been entitled jerks overseas, and that’s why we all often try to over compensate and avoid other Americans. But it’s getting worse with our newly empowered toxic culture of America Uber Alles.
I rather enjoyed their ‘are you watching’ chant at the end as well!!
I had no idea this kind of behavior went on or that the Ryder Cup had such a reputation! On the rare occasions when I encountered golf on TV–usually on the news covering the Masters in Augusta–the footage is always of quiet, with the announcers whispering about what’s going on. This was bonkers & very trumpian. Glad the Americans lost.
My son said he watched a breakdown of the video showing the beer that hit Erika, and he said the beer guy was holding it up in the air and the person behind him hit his arm (on purpose) causing it to fly forward and hit her. Inexcusable no matter how it happened.
As a big golf fan and from the home of golf Scotland, I always utterly appalled. Saturday in particular was a deeply uncomfortable day. Aside from the xenophobia, the abuse of Rory’s wife and the general unacceptable heckling, there was also homophobic slurs directed at Rory and his playing partner Shane Lowry. I have never witnessed anything like this in my life and I can assure everyone that if this happened in Scotland (and the U.K./Europe) they would be pulled out of the crowd so quickly by other attendees never mind the officials. The USA captain was an absolute disgrace and did not even attempt to try and calm things down when he had an opportunity to do so. Trump made an appearance of course to hang out with his bro DeChambeau who also fanned the flames. It’s a sport of decorum, respect and sportsmanship, all of which the USA fans were missing.
This! My parents are huge Canadian golf fans and were appalled by the behaviour. I chatted with them on Sunday and they were watching the Ryder Cup and cheering against the Americans, Usually, they are supportive of every team but this year, they thought the behaviour of the Americans was so disgusting that they couldn’t bear the thought of a USA win.
As a Long Islander, I am deeply ashamed of how the crowd behaved. They embarrassed themselves and Long Island. They were Trump supporters. They would not have come to watch except for the fact that they knew Trump would be there.
Yup, as soon as I saw it was held at Bethpage Black, it all made sense. Most people assume that LI is blue because it’s so close to the city, but it’s so red now, especially Suffolk. (I know Bethpage is in Nassau.)
Horrible behavior. MAGA is ruining everything in America.
And our president just made an ass out of himself at NATO last week. USA!
The UN, not NATO last week. (NATO meeting was over the summer)
I saw in the news that all these rich people coptered in making the surrounding residential towns quote noisy with lots of sky traffic
Bethpage is also in the middle of a very populated area and there’s always traffic no matter what day it is so add in helicopters and car share services it must have been miserable.
The American crowds were embarrassing. It’s one thing to cheer your team on, but I don’t think you should even be booing the other team, let alone yelling some of the things that they did directly at players. It’s all such poor sportsmanship. No one ever wants to win because of that kind of thing. And throwing a drink is so far across the line. It was really gross.
One Irish Twitter account was getting lots of lovely MAGA responses like “you guys would be speaking German if it weren’t for us” and all that boneheaded rubbish.
Jesus. When enough time has gone by that most WW2 vets are dead it’s time to let it go. Someone should’ve said we’d still be speaking the King’s English if not for the French.
Sad part is that type of thinking is embodied in the current president.
That’s rich coming from magats who want to create the american version of the third reich.
what an ironic comment from people considering MAGA support for an administration that is closely following the nazi blueprint (should be noted that there are an awful lot of MAGA SM accounts now talking about how Hitler was misunderstood and asking if those fighting against nazis weren’t the real bad guys)
Ireland was neutral during the war. And it was the Russian Army that turned the tide, anyway.
I’m glad the USA team lost. Americans think they should win everything, all the time.
This happened on Long Island. Not surprising.
Yes, golf is more of a Republican sport. I think of it as all the rich white republican men who play golf and make deals and in between rounds and laugh at the poor people who get screwed over because they want to pay less in taxes or they want zoning permission for a new strip mall or whatever. So the fact that there seemed to be so many MAGAts in the crowd wasn’t surprising (especially considering it was on Long Island.)
And yes, in all sports, you’re going to expect some heckling, especially if there’s alcohol. But this clearly crossed a line in a big way (throwing a beer at someone’s wife? WTF?) and i’m glad Team Europe won.
Ryder Cup tournaments get more animated because of the country v continent divide. But the crowds don’t normally throw stuff or make personal insults about spouses.
The emcee even thinking it was ok to do a chant of Fuck Rory just shows the lack of class that this tournament was showing.
Crowd control was really bad here.
Doesn’t help that they’re all hopped up on addy and zyns.
My husband golfs and was watching the match on TV on Saturday (traveling for work yesterday). I noted the crowds yelling and said that sounded so obnoxious and shouldn’t be allowed. I know golf has gotten rowdier over the past few decades but this was different. Then it just got so much worse yesterday .
I’m glad Europe won. I don’t believe all American spectators are like this (I know my husband isn’t). Some people were worried about where it was being held, because New Yorkers are often louder and ruder than your average sport’s fan. I say this as a New Yorker and it’s probably true. That’s no excuse.
I’m a big fan of McElroy, one of the only ones not to sell his soul to the Saudis. Sad this happened to him and his family of all people. The people in charge of pro golf need to do some soul-searching. I remember when my father would watch matches on TV (which bored me to tears). Crowds and announcers were so quiet then! He would be rolling over in his grave right now. My father was a gentleman.
There was an influx of people who don’t normally follow golf who were there. The normal golf crowd knows how to shut up once the play has started. They might heckle in between, but there too it is usually not about the spouses of the players.
Hillary wasn’t wrong about the deplorables. This is exactly who showed up and ruined it for everyone. Well except the European team because they won.
Yep. All of this.
I love Rory McIlroy. He handled his business perfectly.
Forget it, Jake. It’s Lawn Guyland.
I would expect nothing better from white Dunning-Kruger bros who are unfortunately enjoying a swan song of vulgarity thanks to the Cheetoh in Chief.
The USA’s historical inaction, this turn the other cheek stuff is coming back to bite them in the ass.
The US should have prosecuted all traitors left after the Civil War and punished them accordingly. Their descendants multiplied, formed the Tea Party, the Proud Boys, the KKK, and then they committed insurrection on January 6th and propped up DT.
It was CRITICAL that there be ACTUAL consequences, not just for the low hanging fruit who participated in January 6th, but for every member of Congress who participated as well as the one who incited the entire thing, as well as the media, the attorneys, etc. who promoted the lie. Look where this we need to move on and heal stuff led them – it has led to this – garbage completely unchecked committing violence, terrorizing the rest of the population.
This is what happens when you let White Supremacy run amuck. You can’t go high when they go low. You can’t. Cardi B said when they go low I take it to hell – this is the energy we needed hundreds of years ago.
It’s like we keep hoping if we act nice and hand out friendship bracelets. the other side will eventually come around. This is asinine.
I shuddered when I read the line the Trumpification of America. This is what has happened. They are emboldened and know there are NEVER any consequences for them. It’s all so disturbing.
We should have been really hard on anyone that was involved in January 6. No exceptions.
Yep. Welcome to Trumps America – rude, crude and socially unacceptable.
It’s the damn Freedom Fries crowd on steroids and a steady diet of douche bro podcasts. Ugh!
@SIde Eye: completely agree.
The Orange One showed up to wave at his nasty Maga folks on Thursday. I had to turn off the TV. Bryson DeChambeau and his caddy were also classless but that’s no shock either. When the PGA allowed #16 at Phoenix to happen, it was only a matter of time before the Ryder Cup devolved.
Imagine taking your children and having them learn that this is how you act when you’re watching sports. The kids then take this behavior to school and their own events. I also feel afraid for the players. They are so close to the hecklers. Something bad is going to happen eventually.
First off, maybe they shouldn’t serve alcohol. Many “adults” can’t handle their drink.
This also has the mark of MAGA all over it. Drunk MAGAs. They should feel lucky that they could afford the tickets and saw some really good golf. Some people have to ruin it for everyone.
This kind of stuff makes me never want to go to any event and just stay at home.
The Europeans will never want to play here again.
That beer that was thrown at Erika could have been acid, given the makeup of the crowd. She was lucky this time. Ashamed of American’s behavior. Way to drive away Europeans and their tourist money.
My husband was working as a volunteer and said people were tailgating at 5am before the gates opened at 7 and so many people were pass-out drunk before noon.
Spending all of that money and making that effort to go and they could have gotten drunk and passed out at home for free. Sad.
That reminds me of a concert that I went to in my 20’s. A girl was passed out with her head in the aisle before the show started. She really enjoyed it!
That reminds me of when I went to uga back in the 90s. Old men would start tailgating on Thursday…on campus or at least close enough to my talk to campus…for a Saturday game. I’d be walking to class at 7am and they’d be drinking, cooking out and playing who let the dogs out at full blast. So yeah by the time a Saturday late afternoon or evening game would start, people would be blitzed and passed out.
Americans had already been known as the loudest, coarsest unmannered travelers…now they are showing it even at home …in MAGA ‘Merica rudeness, racism and stupidity reign supreme…
They acted like British soccer fans….
And Team Europe got the well deserved last laugh and trophy! Good for them. What appalling behavior by our own fellow citizens.
As others above have said, this is very Long Island. It has turned almost entirely red and the obnoxious behavior that has always been there has just gotten a million times worse. Those people were not typical golf watchers, they were guys from Nassau and Suffolk County being complete drunk morons. I say this as someone born and raised there whose family is still in the heart of Suffolk and surrounded by Magas. I feel so badly for all the people there who just wanted to watch some golf and certainly for the European players and families.
Brownshirts.
I think with that behavior, I think many Americans were rooting for the Europeans to win.
Haven’t seen any American players come out to denounce their “fans” behaviour