As eventful as the 2025 Ryder Cup was, one thing that keeps hanging over the tournament like a thick black storm cloud is the hecklers. It has overshadowed most discussion about the game, so much so that one of the victims of the heckling, Rory McIlroy, has stated that he hardly sees talk about the game itself. Many pros from around the world have given their takes on the issue, but recently, Patrick Reed has also shared his thoughts.
Reed On The Ryder Cup
Recently, Patrick Reed had an interview with Bunkered. This is the same interview where he revealed that he was sticking with LIV Golf and is going through the process of contract renewal. Part of the discussion went to the Ryder Cup. He mostly talked about how he believed that he could be an asset to the US team, given that he was on it three times in his career. Then the discussion went to fan behavior. Reed has seen the clips of the hecklers going after the Euro team, and he was mortified.
“The way I heard the fans acted in New York was uncalled for,” Reed told Bunkered. “It’s embarrassing as an American. I mean, you don’t do that. You don’t act the way you did, say the things you say. Stuff like that that needs to be looked at, needs to be checked. It’s supposed to be a gentleman’s game, and you go out there, and some of the things that people say it’s just appalling.”
Reed is emphasizing the importance of enforcing the sportsmanship that golf is known for. The kind of values that created the polite golf clap. It is also something that fans are missing from the sport, even if it’s not gone.
Fan Reaction To Reed
Reed is hardly the first player to have this take. Players have been giving takes like this since day one. When Reed gave his opinion, it sparked a fan response from people wanting to see the positive side of golf return. Additionally, one comment agreed wholeheartedly with Reed’s comments. One American commenter said, “We embarrassed ourselves.” Others were saying that a game of golf was no place for this behavior. They thought that it belonged more in a game of football. One comment set the tone by saying that the incident will be a “Black eye for American fans to the rest of the world.” Essentially implying that there could very well be a certain perception of American spectators around the world because of the Ryder Cup.
Fans Demand Change
Golf has a base standard for how everyone is expected to behave. The players are hardly given clearance when they have an outburst on or off the field. The same is expected for the spectators. This is why players like Patrick Reed are so put off by what happened. If this were any other sport, the incident would have been quickly forgotten, but not in golf. The players and fans don’t want to see this standard fall either.
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