Rory McIlroy Claims Fan Behavior at 2025 Ryder Cup Took Away Focus from Team Europe’s Triumph

Rory McIlroy and Team Europe defeated Team USA 15-13 after dominating Day 1 and Day 2 of the 2025 Ryder Cup.

Rory McIlroy Claims Fan Behavior at 2025 Ryder Cup Took Away Focus from Team Europe’s Triumph

Rory McIlroy (Image via Imago)

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Rory McIlroy was subjected to severe abuse from fans at the Bethpage Black Course in New York at the Ryder Cup. Ahead of the DP World India Championship, the golfer expressed that this fan behavior at the event took away the focus from his team’s dominating win.

Team Europe, who were the defending champions, once again started off strong. A dominating performance on Day 1 and Day 2 saw them take a commanding lead.

The Americans came out roaring on Sunday. They needed a miracle to overcome a 7-point deficit. However, despite earning 8.5 points from the singles action, Team USA lost the Ryder Cup, with Europe winning it with a 15-13 score.

With the win, McIlroy and his team went back-to-back. The fan behavior at the event though, become a major talking point.

McIlroy, the 5-time major champion, was at the center of it. He was constantly heckled by the New York crowd. He would flip off some fans on Friday and yell “shut the f*** up” on Saturday.

Things hit a massive low when a fan attacked Erica Stoll, the wife of Rory McIlroy. As the couple was making their way through the greens, a spectator would grab a beer cup from another fan and throw it at Stoll.

A Master of Ceremonies would also step down from the post after she was caught sparking an NSFW chant of McIlroy. After their win, the former World No.1 hit back at the fans for their behavior and claimed that it was not acceptable.

As he returns to competitive action this week in India, the Northern Irish golfer expressed that the fan behavior talks had shifted the narrative from his team’s dominating win.

The unfortunate thing is people aren’t remembering that, and they are remembering the week for the wrong reason. I would like to shift the narrative and focus on how good the European Team were and how proud I was to be part of that team to win an away Ryder Cup.

Rory McIlroy said in the press conference

8-time major champion Tom Watson would later make a statement regarding the fan behavior. The former Ryder Cup captain expressed that he was ashamed by the incidents at the Bethpage Course and apologized to the European team.

Rory McIlroy comments on the possibility of becoming Ryder Cup captain in the future

Earlier this year, Rory McIlroy expressed that winning an away Ryder Cup was one of his three remaining goals. Having accomplished that, the talks have now shifted to him being a possible captain of Team Europe. The golfer would comment on this matter.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Image via Sky Sports)

McIlroy is one of the top performers for Team Europe in Ryder Cup history. In his 8 appearances, he has picked up 21.5 points, with 3.5 points coming this year as he went 3-1-1 in his 5 matches. He is currently 7th in the all-time points scorers for Europe.

Given his age of 36, McIlroy still has a few more Ryder Cups left in him. While speaking with the reporters, the reigning Masters Champion expressed that he would pick up the role in the future, but not until mid-2030s.

Hopefully that’s not in 2027. Hopefully, I’m still good enough to play and put points on the board for Europe. But yeah, absolutely. I would love to be captain one day… but I’d say not until the mid-2030s, hopefully, if I can keep playing well.

Rory McIlroy told the reporters

The 2027 Ryder Cup will be held at Adare Manor in Ireland. Will Luke Donald come back for a third stint after back-to-back wins? So far, there has been no official decision made regarding this aspect.

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