A controversial yet exciting Ryder Cup is in the bag but while Team Europe’s win was enticing to watch, some of the unsavoury scenes around the course were not.
A week of passionate fans and an intimidating atmosphere was always expected for Team Europe.
However, on the Saturday in particular, things got out of hand as the likes of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry took plenty of abuse and others followed.
In a nutshell, some of the behaviour from those supporting the Americans was borderline disgraceful.
And now, golf analysts Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner have weighed in on the subject and taken a pot-shot at both the supporters inside Bethpage Black and the organisers.
Rex Hoggard unhappy with American golf fans at the Ryder Cup
Everyone expected New York to provide a hot atmosphere but some of the chants and comments towards some of Team Europe were over the top.
In the end, it left a sour taste in the mouth of everyone, including the American team, and now Rex Hoggard has questioned why Bethpage was even picked in the first place.
“I am a little surprised that when Bethpage was announced as the Ryder Cup venue we all knew what this was going to be. We all knew this was going to be gross, it was going to be ugly and there were going to be things that were going to be said that you have never heard a golf tournament before, you have probably never even heard them at another sporting event before and Rory McIlroy took the brunt of it,” Hoggard complained.
“There were things said that were clearly over the top. But I have this thought and go on this tirade once every two years. Because the hierarchy of golf wants golf to move into mainstream sports. It does not want it to be a niche sport any more so it pushes and pushes and pushes.
“That’s what this was about. They wanted to push the boundaries and take it to major markets. Take it to Bethpage where you are in the shadow of New York City and make this big event bigger. I hate to say it, this is mainstream sports. Maybe this isn’t for golf, I will leave it at that. The idea is that if you go to Yankee Stadium you are going to hear gross things there as well.
“There is going to be fans which are going to go over the top. And it wasn’t even the tone or the volume that was the problem here, and there were plenty of gross things that were said, it was the timing of it.
When you have fans yelling in backswings and it’s impacting the competition then now it has gone too far.”
Ryan Lavner calls for ‘Ryder Cup reset’ after Bethpage debacle
Europe celebrated long in to the night and come tomorrow, a lot of this fan abuse will be forgotten.
However, it will remain a talking point among analysts and pundits and as we go towards 2027 in Ireland, we need to ensure we see nothing of the sort.
Indeed, according to Hoggard’s co-host Ryan Lavner, it’s about time the whole tournament has a reset.
“I mean, don’t we just need a Ryder Cup reset at this point? Don’t we need to just turn down the temperature? I think that’s what Rory McIlroy was trying to do in the press conference after. Golf should be held to a higher standard,” Lavner added.
“Golf teaches so many great life lessons yet we are reduced to this boorish behaviour. We just have to be better than this. At 2023 in the Ryder Cup they had pay per play gate, and the hats are waving and Rory is going ballistic in the parking lot.
“This got really ugly on Saturday afternoon with two dozen cops being called in to police it. It was vulgar, it was ugly, it was unnecessary. I understand the fans were angry because the team had not given them anything to really cheer about so instead of cheering they were heckling but that’s no excuse.
I thought a lot of the behaviour went over the line and I’m hoping in two years’ time at Adare Manor it’s not going to be quite that gross.”
With so much angst and annoyance, it would be a surprise to see Bethpage or any New York course picked for some time again.
Ultimately, certain fans let the whole event down and bluntly, left a stain on what was actually a thrilling Ryder Cup.
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