Thomas, considered a friend of McIlroy, did his part to amp up the home supporters as they attempted to overturn a huge Sunday deficit.
He has since insisted that no person’s safety was in danger, but did admit that he “felt for” McIlroy and Shane Lowry as they walked the course to hordes of abuse.
“I mean, I don’t think anyone’s safety was necessarily in danger,” Thomas told the Daily Mail. “Words hurt, too. There was definitely some nasty things said, but I don’t think anybody was necessarily fearing for their life.
“There were some things said, and yeah, Cam (Young) and I said it to Shane and Rory yesterday that we felt for them. It was unfortunate. Cam and I just wished that we gave them something to cheer for instead of people to cheer against.
“That was kind of the main consensus of the last two days, that we weren’t giving them enough to cheer for, and they were just trying to help us win. I guess that’s the New York fans for you.”
McIlroy has come out praising his wife Erica, who did not mention to the rest of the team that she had a can thrown at her, but lamented such actions taking place at a tournament with the prestige of the Ryder Cup.
“[Family] should be off limits, but obviously it wasn’t this week,” McIlroy said. “Erica is fine.
“She is a very strong woman and 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.”
Follow Team Europe star Justin Rose added: “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 is news to me which that says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody on this team.”
