Both Rory McIlroy and wife Erica Stoll were targeted with abuse from USA fans during the Ryder Cup and, after Europe’s victory, the Northern Irishman has spoken out
Rory McIlroy insisted verbal abuse of family members should be “off limits” as he paid an emotional tribute to his wife Erica after the Ryder Cup. And the Masters champion said he will make clear to Irish fans at Adare Manor in 2027 that “what happened here this week is not acceptable”.
American Stoll was repeatedly heckled and hit by a plastic beer glass while watching her husband during the shameful Saturday afternoon at Bethpage Black. Extra police and security had to be deployed along with police dogs. “I wish they had of let the dogs off the leashes,” said the Ulsterman, only half jokingly.
The world No.2 – the highest ranked and most famous European player – was a constant target of American fans during the weekend. It often happened during his backswing or as he lined up putts. He still won 3.5 points in Europe’s historic away win before running out of energy in his singles defeat to Scottie Scheffler.
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But McIlroy, whose father Gerry was also in the crowd, was most annoyed by abuse aimed at his family. “It should be off-limits, but obviously it wasn’t this week,” he said. “Erica is fine. She’s a very, very strong woman. 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.”
McIlroy announced his divorce from Erica on the eve of the US PGA last year before reconciling later in the summer.
His fourball playing partner Shane Lowry added: “I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing and the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable, and kudos to her for that.”
Lowry got one fan ejected on Saturday afternoon. In the morning foursomes, McIlroy turned on the 16th fairway after heckling from the crowd and said: “Guys, shut the f*** up!”
The Masters champion then stuck his wedge to three feet and Fleetwood drained the winning putt. Asked how satisfying that felt, McIlroy said: “Very f****** satisfying.”
But more seriously, he added: “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.
“There was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behaviour. But look, it’s a minority of the crowd. It’s not the majority. The majority of people here are true golf fans and are respectful and let both teams have the same chance to hit the shots and play a fair contest. But there was a small subset of people that behaved a little bit differently than that.
“This should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup. But we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable, and for me, it’s: ‘Come and support your home team. Come and support your team.’
“It was a rough week for all of us. But at the same time, we shut them up by our performance and how we played. I chirped back a few times because it got to me a few times, but we tried to handle everything that came our way with class and poise, and for the most part, I felt like we did that.”
Asked if he would be happy to play another Ryder Cup in New York, McIlroy smiled: “If the result was the same, absolutely.”