After a weekend of facing heckles, taunts and slurs from Ryder Cup fans, leading to added security and multiple instances when frustrations boiled over, Rory McIlroy ripped the fan behavior at Bethpage Black as unacceptable.
“I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” McIlroy said following Europe’s 15-13 win. “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.”
The treatment of McIlroy emerged as an ugly footnote to what happened on the course. He flipped off fans Friday. He yelled at them to “shut the f–k up” before a shot Saturday morning.
He refused to putt until they “shut up” in the afternoon. His wife, Erica Stoll, had a beer thrown at her after his four-ball match Saturday. And in between those confrontations, McIlroy faced taunts about his marriage to Stoll, about his U.S. Open collapse in 2024 and more.
Rory McIlroy of Team Europe speaks to the media after Team Europe’s 15-13 win over Team United States during the Sunday singles matches of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on September 28, 2025. Getty Images
When asked if he was aware of the police dogs and security added to his match, McIlroy joked, “I wish they had let the dogs off the leashes.”
Shane Lowry sprays Rory McIlroy of Team Europe with champagne after Europe secure victory during the Sunday singles matches of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Getty Images
He called the amount of police and security insane, and while the taunting wasn’t as prominent through the back nine on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday during his singles loss to world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, it didn’t fade completely.
At times, it even amplified. Shane Lowry, who paired with McIlroy during four-ball sessions both days, said the abuse Stoll received while inside the ropes was “astonishing, and the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable.”
Fans look on during the Saturday afternoon four-balls matches of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on September 27, 2025 in Farmingdale. Getty Images
“This should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy said. “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.”
McIlroy has never hesitated to engage with fans at Ryder Cups, saying earlier in the week that he probably did that too much at Hazeltine in 2016 and didn’t do that enough at Whistling Straits in 2021. He’ll respond on impulse. He’ll chirp back when something irks him.
During one of those moments, as he prepared to hit his second shot on the 16th hole Saturday morning, McIlroy stepped back from his ball, dropped the F-bomb and proceeded to drill a shot within 3 feet of the hole to set up Tommy Fleetwood’s birdie.
And when asked about how satisfying that was, with a flag draped around his neck and a Stella Artois by his side and 11 European teammates surrounding him in the media room to celebrate, McIlroy didn’t hesitate: “Very f–king satisfying.”
