Collin Morikawa encouraged New York golf enthusiasts to unleash ‘absolute chaos’ during the Ryder Cup this weekend. As he walked the fairways alongside Rory McIlroy in the morning foursomes on Saturday, he witnessed the extreme responses that his invite had incited.
Intense, partisan cheering has become a key attraction of the competition. The flip side is that, whether in Europe or the USA, visiting players often face spirited jeers and taunts.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Sledging plays a role in several sports. The legendary Australian cricket captain, Steve Waugh, once described its purpose as causing ‘mental disintegration’ in opponents. Enduring it can be a defining trait of great athletes.
However, what McIlroy experienced at Bethpage Black on Saturday, both morning and afternoon during his fourballs match, crossed a boundary into a realm of harsh, personal abuse. This may be influenced by today’s political dialogue, but it shouldn’t be in sports.
Where does it stop? When such fervent passions are inflamed in such a charged atmosphere, it seems rivalry is dangerously close to turning into outright animosity.
This isn’t even about the chants that filled the grandstand behind the first tee shortly before 7:30 am on Saturday. That was when McIlroy and his teammate, Tommy Fleetwood, were introduced before their foursomes face-off against Morikawa and Harris English.
Rory McIlroy was subjected to abuse at the Ryder Cup that simply has no place in sport
The morons in the US crowd in New York aimed vile taunts at his wife, Erica Stoll
‘F*** you, Rory,’ the crowd chanted, over and over again. Perhaps it’s not quite what the game of golf should be encouraging, perhaps it’s not the best look for the dignity of the sport but this is the game that encourages things to get as debauched as possible at the can-throwing, puke-producing 16th at the Phoenix Open, but let’s not be too prudish.
There’s a slapstick element to the group chants here at Bethpage Black just as there was on Friday afternoon when a small collection of European fans started singing ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ at world number one Scottie Scheffler when he missed yet another putt.
That’s one thing. What happened out on the course, though, was beyond what sportsmen and sportswomen anywhere should have to endure. If that’s all this American team has got – and it appears that it is – they are truly to be pitied.
Let’s bear in mind here that McIlroy’s dad and his wife were following his match inside the ropes on Saturday morning. They heard pretty much all of what he heard. Perhaps they heard someone shout out on the 2nd fairway that McIlroy’s wife was a wh***.
The abuse of McIlroy was relentless and wearing. ‘You’re playing like a wet fart, McIlroy,’ some wag piped up from by the side of the 6th fairway. McIlroy was actually playing like a God by then but that did not seem to have registered with the moron fraternity.
On almost every hole, American voices shouted out the name of Amanda Balionis, the US television reporter who had been linked with McIlroy some time ago. Sometimes, it was just an individual catcall. Sometimes, groups of fans made it into a chant.
When McIlroy was on the 10th green and the crowd had quietened a little to allow the players to putt, someone made a loud, long and theatrical retching sound in a lame attempt to suggest that McIlroy was a choker.
Given that McIlroy and Fleetwood were 4up at that stage and that McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam when he won The Masters in April, it did not seem like a particularly intelligent sledge. But then intelligence doesn’t much come into this.
It went on and on. More retching sounds. More abuse. It was poisonous. There were times when McIlroy looked rattled by it and there were times when he let it slide by.
Just before he hit the approach to the 16th, which allowed Fleetwood to roll home the winning putt, McIlroy allowed his mask to slip. After yet another dark comment from the gallery, McIlroy turned to a tormentor. ‘Shut the f*** up,’ he said. If only.
