Rory McIlroy didn’t mince his words both during and after the Ryder Cup when speaking about the New York fans.
During the tournament, McIlroy told a fan to shut up before taking a shot on Saturday, and asked for numerous spectators to be removed due to abuse hurled at him and his playing partner, Shane Lowry.
When Europe won the Ryder Cup, McIlroy said that type of fan behaviour has no place in golf. The sport has traditions that need to be respected, and the New York fans crossed the line for what is acceptable.
That dominated the post-Ryder Cup conversation. McIlroy was criticized for snapping back at fans during the event, as some called him a hypocrite. Others rushed to his defense after hearing the abhorrent things that were shouted at McIlroy.
In the build-up to the DP World India Championship, McIlroy’s first appearance since the Ryder Cup, the career grand slam winner gave his thoughts on the reaction to his comments.
Rory McIlroy called post-Ryder Cup narrative ‘unfortunate’
It’s easy to forget that while McIlroy was playing at the Ryder Cup, he wasn’t aware of how his teammates were playing around him. He was unaware of Viktor Hovland’s clutch putt against Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau’s confrontation with Justin Rose. Instead, he was locked in on his match.
McIlroy took the time to watch his teammates’ performances after the Ryder Cup and expressed his frustration that, instead of discussing how well the European players played, the focus was on the fans following the tournament.
McIlroy said, “Obviously, it’s been two weeks, and I’ve been following the sort of narrative coming out of the Ryder Cup just like everyone else. But unfortunately, I think it takes away from what we focused on, which is what an incredible performance it was by the European Team.
“Obviously, as I’m playing my matches, I’m focused on trying to win my point. You see that the other guys are winning their matches or they are doing well but you don’t realize how well they are playing.
“So just over the last two weeks, being able to watch the highlights and just see, especially those first two days, in the foursomes and the four-balls, how good the European Team were. The Americans would hit it close; we hit it closer. The Americans hole a putt and we hole a putt on top of it and it happened every single time.
“The unfortunate thing is people aren’t remembering that and they are remembering the week for the wrong reason. I would like to shift the narrative and focus on how good the European Team were and how proud I was to be part of that team to win an away Ryder Cup.”
Rory McIlroy explains how he wants golf to grow
McIlroy is playing in India for the first time this week. He hopes that his participation in international events can grow the game in a way that promotes respect for the game of golf.
He added, “I think [golf] can definitely grow. But you also want to keep traditions and the values that make golf, golf.
“And I think you don’t want your sport to be unwelcoming to newcomers. I absolutely get that. But you also don’t want newcomers coming into the game and ruining centuries of traditions and values of what this game represents or what it upholds, as well.
“I think there has to be a balance. But I certainly think that golf can grow, but it can grow in a way where the people that are coming into the game still respect and acknowledge that this is a little bit different than maybe other sports.
“And I think that’s okay. I say it in America all the time: Golf doesn’t need to be the NFL. It doesn’t need to be these other sports. Golf is golf, and that’s fine. I think the one great thing about golf, as well, is it’s more of a participation sport than other games or sports, like, say, American football or basketball.
“Those are sports that are mostly watched by people where golf and in some ways cricket in this country, they are games that are played.
“So, look, I’d love more people to watch golf. That would be amazing. But I would be more interested in getting more people to play the game, and I think when people play the game, then they learn and they can acknowledge what golf is, what it represents, and the sort of etiquette and the values that you need to adhere to when you play the game.”
Rory McIlroy says whether he plans to play more international events
Something that can significantly aid the growth of golf worldwide is players such as McIlroy competing in international events such as these. McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Hovland are among the big names competing in New Delhi this week.
This comes after Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa played in Japan at the Baycurrent Classic, something they have committed to over the last half-decade. This can do wonders for growing the game in Asia.
McIlroy said that after winning The Masters and completing the career grand slam, he would like to play more international events.
He said, “I would say as time goes on, my schedule will get hopefully more international because that’s what I’ve enjoyed doing. I’ve always said that. But I think over the last few years, I’ve enjoyed it even more. I’ve enjoyed the travel. I’ve enjoyed getting to play in front of people that I’ve never played in front of before. But it does, it fits really nicely.
“I’ll always go back and play the Irish Open and Wentworth in September, and then you sort of have especially in non-Ryder Cup years, you’ve got some choices to make where you want to play, how much do you want to play, do you want to take some time off? But this event certainly fits into a nice part of the year.”
Tiger Woods played in India in 2014 for an exhibition event, which attracted a record 2,000 people to the Delhi Golf Club. If players like McIlroy commit to competing in more of these events, expect the growth of golf to be exponential around the world.
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