Rory McIlroy praised wife Erica Stoll for how she handled being heckled throughout the 2025 Ryder Cup, including when she was struck by a beverage Saturday from the rowdy crowd at Bethpage Black.
The Northern Irishman — who was mercilessly taunted as he helped Team Europe to a 15-13 victory over Team USA — expressed his love to Stoll Sunday after their marital woes played out in the public eye last year.
“[Family] should be off limits, but obviously it wasn’t this week,” McIlroy said when asked about his family being heckled on the course. “Erica is fine. She is a very strong woman and she handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
During Saturday afternoon’s four-ball session, Stoll immediately turned around after she appeared to be hit with a drink from the crowd, as seen in videos on social media.
McIlroy’s teammate, Justin Rose, praised Stoll for how she handled the situation during Team Europe’s press conference.
“I actually had no idea that Erica had a beer thrown at her yesterday, so fair play to Erica,” Rose said. “She didn’t bring that to the team room. We didn’t make that a big deal. That is news to me which that says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody on this team.”
Shane Lowry, who is close friends with McIlroy, explained that Stoll received an “astonishing” amount of verbal abuse as Team Europe played its way to consecutive Ryder Cup wins.
“I was out there for two days, and I’m not gonna lie, the amount of abuse she received was astonishing — And the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable,” Lowry said. “And kudos to her for that.”
Stoll has yet to publicly address the matter.
McIlroy, 36, was also heckled with chants about CBS Sports reporter Amanda Balionis following his public divorce filing from Stoll last year.
They have since reunited, and his divorce petition was voluntarily dismissed.
McIlroy, who took the brunt of taunting from opposing fans over the weekend, admitted he chirped back a few times when things got to him.
On Saturday, he was seen on the 16th green yelling at the crowd to “shut the f–k up” en route to a 3&2 victory alongside Tommy Fleetwood.