The Ryder Cup has been and gone but amid all the excitement of Team Europe getting the win on American soil, a sour taste has been left in the mouth of many who love golf.
While we were given a show of golf by the players that would excite even the most avid non-golf fan, some of the things we saw away from those 24 players are best left behind.
While talk of the envelope rule might have dominated Keegan Bradley’s post round press conferences, there was another subject dominating the thoughts of most golf fans in Europe.
And that was the behaviour of some of the American golf fans over at Bethpage Black.
As expected, the atmosphere was hostile and it makes Team Europe’s win even more impressive.
However, anyone who thinks some of what we saw belongs on a golf course need to think again and when we look at what Ian Poulter said just days prior to the tournament, he couldn’t have been proven more right.
American golf fans prove Ian Poulter right with Ryder Cup display
Prior to the tournament, Poulter was speaking alongside Tyrrell Hatton and the pair were asked if American golf fans are superior to the European fans.
And in no uncertain terms, Poulter made his views clear.
“I don’t even know where to start. There’s no… I mean, f—— ‘mashed potato’ and all that b——- that you hear is madness. ‘In the hole! Get in the hole!’ It’s a 600-yard par five you f—— idiot,” Poulter ranted.
“I actually just want to borrow the taser from the security guard. Just to let one go per hole would be amazing.
“Imagine that. You’ve got one taser per hole. That’d be awesome. How good, right between the eyes. Have it.”
And while Poulter’s comments here might seem over-zealous and potentially harsh, what we saw at Bethpage effectively just backed his point.
Yes, this was not all American golf fans and as ever it was a minority who tried to ruin things for the rest.
However, it did not leave a good impression on the tournament as a whole and ultimately, those who shout the loudest are heard the most.
Unfortunately for the PGA of America and New York, the scenes we saw at the Ryder Cup – especially around Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry – just showed them up.
In a nutshell, what Poulter spoke of came true and come Adare Manor in 2027, you can bet your bottom dollar the European fans will be out in force to prove Poulter’s point even more.
- READ MORE: Luke Donald sends classy new message to Keegan Bradley a week after beating him to the Ryder Cup
What players and captains have said about fan behaviour at Bethpage Black
Sadly, the fan behaviour we saw has dominated things a bit since the Ryder Cup finished.
Nicolas Colsaerts was one who strongly condemned things and the former Ryder Cup winner directly called out the PGA of America on the matter.
PGA Tour player and American golfer Michael Kim suggested the American players themselves were annoyed, while Justin Thomas was forced to answer if he feared for Rory McIlroy at any point as well.
“I mean, I don’t think anyone’s safety was necessarily in danger. Words hurt, too. There was definitely some nasty things said, but I don’t think anybody was necessarily fearing for their life or in any kind of situation where they were going to get hurt,” Thomas said.
“Yeah, I think that anybody that was out there could pretty blatantly tell you that there was some things said, and yeah, it was – I said it to – Cam and I said it to Shane and Rory yesterday that we felt for them. It was unfortunate.
“Cam and I just wished that we gave them something to cheer for instead of people to cheer against. I think that was kind of the main consensus of the last two days, that we weren’t giving them enough to cheer for, and they were just trying to help us win. I guess that’s the New York fans for you.”
Clearly, there needs to be some sort of change for future Ryder Cups. What we witnessed was akin to what we see in other sports such as soccer or the NFL.
Golf, though, has always been about more than that and there are now serious questions to be answered.
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