Rory McIlroy was given a really hard time by the US Ryder Cup fans at Bethpage Black in September last year.
McIlroy was instrumental in Europe’s Ryder Cup success against the United States, taking 3.5 points from the five matches he played at Bethpage.
The abuse aimed at McIlroy from the American Ryder Cup fans at Bethpage was entirely inappropriate.
Vile chants were aimed at the 2025 Masters champion, his teammates, and all of their wives and partners.
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Ryder Cup fan abuse the worst Rory McIlroy has ever experienced
Everyone knows just how bad the fan abuse at Bethpage was.
However, what was it like in comparison to the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine?
When speaking on The Overlap Podcast, McIlroy was asked whether the abuse he received at Bethpage was the worst he has ever experienced on a golf course.
“Oh, by far,“ the Northern Irishman exclaimed.
“Yeah, 2016, we played Ryder Cup in Minnesota, and I thought that was bad, but that, you know, I compare this year to 2016 and, like, 2016 was nothing compared to some of the stuff we heard.
“But, look, it’s, again, it’s society and it’s culture at the minute, and, you know, a bit of the mob mentality thing happened.
“But look, there’s 50,000 people there, and all it takes is 500 of those to be bad eggs, and then all of a sudden it’s sort of skews the atmosphere.“
Fair play to McIlroy for highlighting how the vile abuse was not coming from the majority of fans, but rather the minority.
Hopefully the next time the Ryder Cup is held in the United States, the fans put more effort into supporting their own team, rather than abusing the Europeans.
Rory McIlroy on why fan abuse changed during Ryder Cup singles
There was a noticeable difference regarding the fan abuse that the Europe players received on Sunday in comparison to the first days’ of action.
McIlroy shared some genuinely fascinating insight into why he believes that happened.
He was asked why the atmosphere seemed to change at Bethpage during the Ryder Cup Sunday singles matches.
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“I also think as well, for the Ryder Cup during the first two days, there are 50,000 people on four holes. So it’s so tight and so packed in, and so condensed.
“And then on Sunday, there are 12 matches, so the crowd is a little more dispersed around the golf course, so they do not really get into that mob mentality as much.“
That is absolutely spot on from McIlroy and it is something that is not talked about enough.
The way that the fans are all centered in such tight spaces on the golf course during the first two days of the Ryder Cup undoubtedly leads to more boisterous, mob mentality-type behaviour.
However, that still doesn’t excuse some of the behaviour that reared its ugly head at Bethpage Black, that goes without saying.
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