Heather McMahan who was employed to warm up the crowd was recorded leading a foul-mouthed Rory McIlroy chant on the first tee on Saturday
Heather McMahan who was employed to warm up the crowd was recorded leading a foul-mouthed Rory McIlroy chant on the first tee on Saturday.
She later apologised and stepped down before the final day’s play.
McMahan who was attempting to stoke up the crowd on the first tee was using a megaphone to lead them in their chants.
She tried a chorus of “Scottie! Scottie! Scheffler!” to the tune of Queen’s We Will Rock You but gave up as she was booed.
She was then heard on a now-viral video of the expletive-filled chant before the start of the second day’s matches which set the tone for an ugly day at Bethpage as the Northern Irishman faced a barrage of jeers.
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“The atmosphere around McIlroy in particular became so toxic that the PGA of America brought in squads of state police and park police to walk the course with his group midway through their round,” The Guardian reports. “Several spectators were evicted.”
The well-known entertainer who has two comedy specials on Netflix and Hulu and hosts the ‘Absolutely Not’ podcast, is married to Jeff Daniels, a keen golfer.
She has broken her silence in the aftermath of the controversy in a comment on TikTok, which the actress and comedian described as “really tough scene”.
In a comment on influencer Pamela Wurst Vetrini’s post defending her, McMahan wrote: “I did not start the chant but I deeply regret responding back to the crowd.
“I apologized but I agree it [is a] little Salem-witch esque blaming me for the New York sports scene.”
The PGA of America announced on Sunday morning that McMahan resigned her role and had “extended an apology to Rory McIlroy and Ryder Cup Europe.”
Heather McMahan
McIlroy hit out at fans after Team Europe won the Ryder Cup. Saying: “I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf.
“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.
“But, you know, we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable.
“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 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.”
However, despite the difficulties over the weekend, McIlroy is convinced that 2025 will go down as the best year of his storied career.
After winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Players Championship before completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters, he added a second Irish Open title to his CV in sensational fashion at The K Club.
But winning his second away Ryder Cup was always at the top of his hit list for 2025, and after achieving that goal at Bethpage Black in New York last night, he finds it hard to see how he will ever top this season.
“It’s been the best year of my career and it’s been the best year of my life, on and off the course too,” a clearly emotional McIlroy said.
“I’ve got so many things to be grateful and lucky for away from the golf course – beautiful wife, beautiful daughter, my parents are healthy, I’ve got a great group of great friends, and that’s the important thing.
“This is amazing. This is obviously incredible what we’re doing here. But when it’s all said and done, having those really important people in my life, I’m so lucky.”
He added: “Yeah, 2025 is the [best] year of my career because I could win another major again, another Masters, another whatever, but to complete the career Grand Slam and do this in the same year, win the Irish Open, honestly, I’ll wake up tomorrow and I’ll have to pinch myself to make sure that this is all real.”
After Team Europe retained the trophy, the golfers came together to send US President Donal Trump a video message.
In the clip, Rory can be seen holding the camera, which is pointed at the rest of the group.
They can be heard singing a chant, that went: “Are you watching? Are you watching? Are you watching, Donald Trump?”
The video was shared by Trump on his social media app Truth Social, with him commenting: “Yes I’m watching. Congratulations!”
