Pro golfer Rory McIlroy joked that police dogs should have been “let off the leashes” to deal with unruly American fans at Bethpage Black, where heckling turned into abuse during the 2025 Ryder Cup.
McIlroy, 36, delivered the tongue-in-cheek line during Team Europe’s winning press conference on Sunday, September 28, as he reflected on a week of hostility from the New York crowd.
“I wish they had let the dogs off the leashes,” McIlroy said with a laugh. “The police out there and the amount of security presence was insane. Look, nothing was going to happen. There wasn’t going to be a physical altercation, [but] there was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behaviour. We shouldn’t ever accept that in golf.”
The five-time Ryder Cup champion said the abuse wore on him throughout the week, but made Team Europe’s 15-13 victory all the more satisfying.
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“It was a rough week for all of us,” McIlroy continued. “But at the same time, we shut them up by our performance and how we played“I chirped back a few times because it got to me, but we tried to handle everything that came our way with class and poise, and for the most part, I felt like we did that.”
McIlroy clashed with hecklers several times throughout the weekend, including one moment when he snapped and yelled, “Shut the f*** up,” at a fan during Saturday’s matches.
Later, he celebrated with Team Europe teammate Shane Lowry by shouting at the hecklers, “I’m really f***ing good!”
The hostility escalated to the point where troopers and K-9 police units lined the ropes, and some spectators were ejected.
McIlroy said the attacks crossed a line, especially after his wife, Erica Stoll, was hit with a drink while walking through the crowd.
“It should be off-limits, but obviously it wasn’t this week,” McIlroy said Sunday. “Erica is fine. She’s a very, very strong woman. She handled everything this week with class, poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
“It’s a minority of the crowd, it’s not the majority,” McIlroy specified after Team Europe’s victory.
Stoll, 38, also earned praise from Lowry, 37, who complimented her composure under fire.
“I was out there for two days with Erica, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing,” Lowry said after the win. “The way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable, and kudos to her for that.”
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McIlroy admitted he was drained after losing his singles match to the currently No. 1 ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler, but said silencing the crowd by contributing 3.5 points for Europe was “very f***ing satisfying.”
“It obviously was really tight there at the end,” McIlroy said. “It was a bit stressful.”
Despite Team Europe’s victory, McIlroy is hoping that future iterations are a bit more peaceful.
“I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week,” McIlroy said after the final match. “Golf has the ability to unite people, sometimes this week we didn’t see that.”
