The Ryder Cup is in the bag for another two years and after Team Europe emerged victorious, players have been reflecting on a strange week at Bethpage Black.
With a hostile crowd predicted, things went off pretty smoothly on the Friday as Team Europe dominated and, in the main, silenced the New York crowd.
However, on Saturday things turned ugly. Abuse was hurled at the Europeans, with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry taking the brunt of things in unsavoury scenes.
Marshalls and uniformed officers had to line the fairways as things threatened to spill over, while McIlroy’s wife Erica was also in the midst of getting drinks thrown in her direction.
Thankfully, some USA players did try to intervene and calm things and for Justin Thomas, things did go a bit too far in terms of the comments from fans towards McIlroy.
Justin Thomas gives verdict on the abuse Rory McIlroy suffered at Bethpage
Justin Thomas was one of a number of Americans to claw back the points on Sunday but he was also out there on the Saturday as things turned ugly.
Given his experience, this was new even for Thomas and speaking to the media about the incident with McIlroy, Thomas explained if he felt McIlroy was actually in physical danger.
“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.”
American fans accused of going too far at the Ryder Cup
It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you sit on here, Europe or America, the fact is that things got way too heated on the Saturday.
Some of the comments aimed at McIlroy and Lowry went beyond just ‘banter’ and at times were just plain insulting and personal.
The duo did well to hold their nerve and temperament, even though things did get to McIlroy at one point in the match.
Indeed, former Ryder Cup winner Nicolas Colsaerts has said the USA have a lot of soul searching to do.
“For most people that saw the broadcast yesterday, the behaviour of certain American fans was clearly over the line. We understand that when you go and play over in America, you are going to be exposed to a certain level of criticism from the crowd,” Colsaerts told Sky Sports.
“But when it starts to be directed at players and it’s clearly insulting, that’s a line you have to be careful with. There is a certain level of responsibility from not only American golf, but the world of golf, to make sure that it’s a healthy atmosphere – which was not really the case yesterday. A few questions definitely need to be answered.”
With the next one in Europe, we could almost see a reverse of things as Europe attempt to show class and get things back to ‘normal’.
Right now, there are some in New York who should hang their heads in shame. It really is that simple.
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