FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Rory McIlroy helped Europe win the Ryder Cup again, then called out the hostile New York crowd for “unacceptable and abusive behavior.”
Over his five matches at Bethpage Black, McIlroy endured a torrent of insults about everything from his personal life to past failures on the golf course. People shouted out as he lined up to swing and putt. His wife was hit by a cup of beer.
“What happened here this week is not acceptable,” McIlroy said Sunday, after going 3-1-1 over three days to help Europe beat the United States 15-13.
The lone loss for the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland, who is No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, came in a Sunday singles match with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who had also played in all five sessions, that was more of a slog than a pristine, shot-for-shot battle of the planet’s top two players.
It was McIlroy’s most blunt assessment yet of a Long Island gallery that Europe fully expected to be rowdy and passionate — captain Luke Donald even gave players virtual-reality goggles to practice with and get used to the noise — but maybe not this crass or downright obnoxious.