The extra security added for Rory McIlroy’s four-ball match — as well as for the three other ones, too — Saturday will remain in place for the final day of the Ryder Cup during singles matches, PGA of America confirmed to The Post.
As fan conduct spiraled and led to heckles, slurs and boos being hurled toward the polarizing McIlroy during an ugly day at Bethpage Black, the organization in charge of the Ryder Cup placed added security and New York State police at the matches, while also adding additional messages on video boards scattered throughout the course about fan behavior.
“We will continue to closely monitor fan behavior and take appropriate action,” the PGA of America said in a statement Saturday night, hours after the passionate fandom that defines the Ryder Cup took an embarrassing turn.
The tension between McIlroy and the American fans — a contentious relationship that dates back to his last two Ryder Cups in the country, too — started to bubble Friday, when he flipped off a group of fans walking off the 11th hole.
He spread his arms out and blew a kiss to the crowd Saturday morning at the first tee. Then, on the 16th during foursomes, he stepped back from his shot and told fans to “shut the f–k up.” In the afternoon, on the sixth hole, McIlroy kept squatting as fans heckled him and said he wouldn’t putt “until they shut up,” too.
But by the time he neared the turn during four-ball, everything had worsened. Shane Lowry, his afternoon partner, reportedly had a spectator kicked out and faced taunts about his weight. McIlroy faced comments containing homophobic slurs, reminders of his collapse at the 2024 U.S. Open, taunts about his marriage with Erica Stoll and more, according to Golf Digest. “F–k you, Rory,” chants echoed throughout his rounds at Bethpage, and Heather McMahan, an emcee who initiated one herself at the first tee in the morning, stepped down.
At least a dozen state police were following McIlroy’s match by the time it reached the 16th green. Justin Thomas, who was one of the American golfers in McIlroy’s group, placed both hands in the air before shots to try and silence fans at times, too.
“When you play an away Ryder Cup, it’s really, really challenging,” McIlroy said following his match Saturday afternoon. “It’s not for me to say. People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”