The European team were expecting abuse from the people paying to attend this Ryder Cup, but not from the people the Ryder Cup are paying to entertain them while they are here. In a dismal start to what turned into one of the most rancorous dayâ€s play in the history of the competition, the female master of ceremonies employed to inject some life into the crowd at the 1st tee was recorded using a megaphone to lead a chant of “Fuck you Rory!†before Saturday morningâ€s foursomes. The PGA of America, which is organising the tournament, was approached for comment but remained oddly silent until late on Saturday evening when they issued an apology and announced that the MC, Heather McMahan, would stand down from Sundayâ€s proceedings.
The incident set the tone for everything that happened after. The words became a recurring chant, and by the end of the day the atmosphere around his fourball with Shane Lowry against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young had become so foul that the PGA of America had brought in a squad of state police to try to restore order.
It has to be said McIlroy has not helped himself. During his Friday fourball, he flipped his finger at a heckler while he was walking off the 11th green after Lowry had made a putt to put the team 2 up. On Saturday, McIlroy responded to the chants on the 1st tee by blowing kisses at the crowd. But he finally snapped when he reached the 16th during his foursomes match with Tommy Fleetwood. Someone shouted out: “Freedom!†while McIlroy was getting ready to make his swing. He turned to face the crowd and snapped back: “Shut the fuck up!†before he stepped back up to the ball and hit it to three feet from the pin.
“I donâ€t mind them having a go at us, thatâ€s to be expected, thatâ€s what an away Ryder Cup is,†said McIlroy after the round, although you guess he was being diplomatic given that a lot of what was said was about his wife and private life. “Whenever they are still doing it while you are over the ball and trying to hit your shot, thatâ€s the tough thing. You know, look, in between shots, say whatever you want to me. Thatâ€s totally fine. But just give us the respect to let us hit shots. Give us the same chance that the Americans have.†It did not make any difference.
Quick GuideRyder Cup singles pairings and timingsShow
12.02 EDT/17.02 BST Cameron Young v Justin Rose
12.13 EDT/17.13 BST Justin Thomas v Tommy Fleetwood
12.24 EDT/17.24 BST Bryson DeChambeau v Matt Fitzpatrick
12.35 EDT/17.35 BST Scottie Scheffler v Rory McIlroy
12.46 EDT/17.46 BST Patrick Cantlay v Ludvig Ã…berg
12.57 EDT/17.57 BST Xander Schauffele v Jon Rahm
13.08 EDT/18.08 BST JJ Spaun v Sepp Straka
13.19 EDT/18.19 BST Russell Henley v Shane Lowry
13.30 EDT/18.30 BST Ben Griffin v Rasmus Højgaard
13.41 EDT/18.41 BST Collin Morikawa v Tyrrell Hatton
13.52 EDT/18.52 BST Sam Burns v Robert MacIntyre
14.03 EDT/19.03 BST Harris English v Viktor Hovland
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During McIlroyâ€s afternoon fourball match he had to step away from a putt because the crowd were making so much noise. This time it was his partner Lowry who reacted, shouting: “Fuck you!†after making his own putt to win the hole from 20ft. By the time the match reached the 8th, Thomas had started asking the crowd to quieten down when Lowry and McIlroy were over the ball, and the PGA of America had finally started posting frequent spectator etiquette warnings up on the big screens around the grounds. They were booed every time they appeared.
“Itâ€s really, really challenging,†McIlroy said when it was all over. He refused to be drawn on whether he thought the crowd had gone too far. “Itâ€s not for me to say, people can be their own judge.†The look on Lowryâ€s face while he said it told you everything you needed to know about his verdict on it.
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Either way, the crowd were picking on the wrong man. McIlroy won his foursomes 3&2, and his fourball 2 up, by the time he had walked off 18 at the end of the day he had won as many points on his own as the entire US team had between them. In the absence of many eagles and birdies, US golf did not have anything much else left to throw at him but insults.
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