Justin Thomas received a captain’s pick to play on the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in September of this year.
It goes without saying that Thomas was delighted to be a part of the US Ryder Cup team but things took a nasty turn on day two of the competition during the match between himself and Cameron Young and Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.
Thomas ended the week at Bethpage Black with a decent record as well, with two wins and two defeats from the four matches he played.
But he will probably remember the week more for some of the controversial fan behavior.
The US Ryder Cup fans turned nasty at one point during the Saturday four-balls, with Lowry and McIlroy’s wives both being targeted for abuse.
Did Keegan Bradley make a bigger mistake than how he set up Bethpage Black at the Ryder Cup?
The European players were disgusted by what they heard at the Ryder Cup, and the atmosphere in general at Bethpage was incredibly unsavory throughout the week.
Now Thomas has opened up on the effect everything had on him personally.
Justin Thomas spoke to Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry’s wives about Ryder Cup fans
Thomas is someone who gets the crowd amped up during Ryder Cups, not only because of his playing style but with his fiery attitude on the course as well.
However, the American knew full well that a line had been crossed during the clash with the Europeans at Bethpage this year.
When speaking on the No Laying Up Podcast, the 32-year-old from Kentucky explained what he told Erica McIlroy and Wendy Lowry about some of the abuse they received at Bethpage.
Thomas said: “None of us wanted that. None of us hoped it would get to that. It sucked. I felt terrible.
“We get stuff yelled at us all the time. In away Ryder Cups we are always getting bashed and yelled at.
“But any time where it starts getting in the families or talking to the wives, I hate that. I felt terrible for Wendy and Erica out there and told them that. They didn’t deserve that, they just were out there trying to watch their husbands win a point and had to deal with it.
“I hated it was as much of a talk as it was, because it took away from the Ryder Cup. It’s a huge deal, right?“
Fair play to Thomas for speaking out about the unacceptable actions from some of the US Ryder Cup fans.
Hopefully more players will come out and make similar statements because without that, it will be hard to instigate real change moving forward.
Justin Thomas blasts PGA of America for Ryder Cup security protocols
Thomas made it very clear that the PGA of America could have done more to ensure that the European players did not receive some of the disgusting abuse they did.
“I think it’s pretty self explanatory and obvious that it had gotten away from them,“ Thomas explained.
“I think there should have been a lot better plan in place from the PGA and from the security aspect. You don’t want that to be what it is, but the first day or two you throw a couple of people out for saying some stuff and people are going to stop doing things.
“I remember the frustration with Cam and I played Rory and Shane. People were yelling stuff and our official was just standing there and Rory was like can you help us here? These people are yelling at us and he was just sitting there.
“It did not feel like there was a very good plan put in place for how are we going to deal with this when it gets to that.
“It sucks because I am in no way saying it in the sense that I am dogging the area, but it’s a very North Eastern [place] and New York fans are intense.
“I remember going to a Yankees vs a Red Sox game in Yankee Stadium when I was seven and I had a Nomar Garciaparra jersey on and I remember a grown man giving me the finger.“
The PGA of America certainly have to much of the blame for what happened at Bethpage.
Rich Beem accused the PGA of America of getting numerous things wrong at the Ryder Cup, including the way they tried to whip the fans up into a frenzy before play started on Saturday with the use of a foul-mouthed comedian.
Moving forward, this is something they have to address. The PGA of America got things spot on at Hazeltine in 2016, as the fans struck the perfect balance by creating a hostile atmosphere but one that didn’t cross the line into personal insults.
Justin Thomas clearly felt terrible about what Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, and their wives had to endure at the Ryder Cup.
And people like Thomas speaking out will hopefully ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
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