Rory McIlroy told heckling US fans to “shut the f*** up” before extra security was deployed to monitor rowdy galleries during the Europe star’s afternoon four-ball match alongside Shane Lowry as tensions reached fever pitch on the second day of the Ryder Cup in New York.
Europe have extended their lead to seven points, 11.5 to 4.5, off the back off another dominant day at Bethpage Black, where the visitors won three of the four morning foursomes matches as well as three of the four afternoon fourball matches.
But the European brilliance was overshadowed by fiery moments between the Masters champion and the American crowd for a second straight day.
Watch every round The 2025 Ryder Cup exclusively LIVE on Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports | 26-28 September | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
In his morning foursomes alongside Tommy Fleetwood, McIlroy, who on Friday had flipped the middle finger to hecklers, used an obscenity as he told noisy fans to “shut up” as he prepared to play a shot.
Later, McIlroy was forced to back off a putt by a heckler on the fourth hole in his four-ball match with pal Lowry, a move that draw of chorus of boos and prompted McIlroy to ask a rules official if anything could be done about over-the-top annoyers.
As the abuse from spectators continued, extra security staff appeared to have been brought in to keep a watchful eye over the match.
It seemed to do little to deter the vocal American patrons with spot fires breaking out everywhere across the back nine as the spectators hurled personal, homophobic, sexist and xenophobic attacks at McIlroy and Lowry, according to Golf Digest’s Joel Beall, who walked the course during the match.
Lowry was even held back by his caddy at one stage after he was angered by something a US spectator said while McIlroy was about to tee off.
After draining a putt at the 14th hole to put the European one-up against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, McIlroy also returned serve with a huge celebration of his own, and pointed to the scoreboard as he walked to the next tee.
Later, Thomas even had to plea with fans in the grandstand behind the 17th green to stay quiet as McIlroy putted.
The Irishmen managed to overcome all the animosity when it mattered with McIlroy and Lowry claiming a 2 up victory by winning two holes to none across the fiesty back nine, making five straight birdies to finish to hand the Europeans their second victory of the afternoon session.
“Yeah hugely satisfying. It’s Shane and I’s first full point as a partnership,” McIlroy said.
“We got a half yesterday, but it was nice to get another blue point on the board. That’s what we wanted to do.
“I’m so proud of this guy. He was there for me all day.
“I’m drained, to say the least.
“And he dug in big time when he had to.
“I chipped in when I could here and there, but the credit goes to this man today.”
“It was intense. It was something I’ve never experienced, but this is what I live for,” Lowry added.
“Honestly, this is the reason I get up in the morning, for days like this.
“This is what I love doing. I love being a part of this team. I really want us to win this tournament.
“But, you know, that’s only a point towards victory. We still have a job to do.
“Obviously we have quite a big lead, but we need to keep the foot on the gas now and get over that line as quick as we can.”
McIlroy was then asked if he thought the crowds took it to far, to which he replied: “You know, when you play an away Ryder Cup it’s really, really challenging.”
“It’s not for me to say, people can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not,” he added.
“I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”
The tensions then spilled over to the match behind them with Bryson DeChambeau and Tommy Fleetwood sharing a heated exchange as they walked to the 16th tee.
On the 15th green, Justin Rose asked the US caddies to stay out of his eyeline as he putted, and then things kicked off as they walked off the green.
Fleetwood’s caddy Ian Finnis could be heard repeatedly telling DeChambeau to “chill out”, while Scottie Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott was also in the thick of the argument.
Rose also had back and forth with DeChambeau’s caddie, Greg Bodine.
The Englishmen then had the last laugh as Rose rolled in another putt to seal the match 3&2 at the very next hole.
“It was a shame that the match got to that point because it was actually a really great match,” Rose said.
“I was waiting to putt. The boys were obviously working on their reads, obviously going through their whatever, calculations, bits and pieces.
“I waited a few seconds and then I felt like they came up again.
“I questioned, ‘it’s my putt, right?’ or however I said it. Maybe I didn’t say it as politely as I could have said it in the moment.
“By no means was there any disrespect, but it was obviously taken in the wrong way.”
J.J. Spaun and Xander Schauffele prevented a European clean sweep of the afternoon matches, winning the final two holes to prevail 1 up against Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka.
Tyrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick’s match against Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay also came down to the final hole, with the European pair firing a pair of darts at the pin before Hatton knocked in the birdie putt to seal a 1 up win.
It restored Europe’s seven point advantage, meaning they need just two and a half points across the 12 Sunday singles matches to retain the Cup they won in Rome two years ago.
The visitors also became the first away team to win three sessions in a Ryder Cup on foreign, by having claimed all four so far.
“I didn’t really imagine this,” Europe captain Luke Donald said.
“Obviously the job is not done yet but to have this stand in New York, shouting the ‘oles’, most of the cheers coming from our side is incredible.
“Every time the Americans came at us, we came back and just the resilience, and the confidence these guys have in themselves and their partners is really truly incredible.”
Europe race to historic Ryder Cup start | 03:38
Speaking after his and Fleetwood’s morning 3&2 victory over Harris English and Collin Morikawa, McIlroy said while he had been expecting a partisan atmosphere, some of the crowd behaviour had crossed a line.
“I don’t mind them having a go at us. That’s to be expected. That’s what an away Ryder Cup is,” McIlroy said. “Whenever they’re still doing it while you are over the ball and trying to hit your shot, that’s the tough thing.
“Between shots, say whatever you want to me. That’s totally fine. But give us the respect to let us hit shots and give us the same chance that the Americans have.”
As Europe stretched its lead over the United States, McIlroy became the focus of most of the remarks and insults from the crowd, from the creative to the mundane.
“You really just have to focus on the task at hand,” McIlroy said, adding that mental toughness was a requirement.
Even after making an obscene gesture to the crowd on Friday, McIlroy said after Friday’s play that the spite being fired his way was “what we sort of expected.”
“It was rowdy and lively,” McIlroy said. “They made it difficult for us, but I felt like Shane and I, we handled that really well and dug in. Made some good swings and good putts when we needed to.”
McIlroy flips the bird at the Ryder Cup! | 00:26
McIlroy, who dropped to his knees and cried on the 18th green at Augusta after winning the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam, has fed off the intense atmosphere, saying on the eve of the event he has struggled to find a balance on how much to engage with hostile crowds.
“At times in the Ryder Cup, I’ve engaged too much with that, too much with the crowd,” McIlroy said.
“But then there’s times where I haven’t engaged enough. So it’s really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance.”
How on EARTH did Rahm salvage this shot? | 00:27
Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Young combined to claim the sole point of the morning session for the US, defeating Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg 4&2.
But the Europeans continued their impressive march towards a first away Ryder Cup victory since 2012 with Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton overcoming the successful partnership of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay 3&2.
In the final match of the morning, Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland prevailed 1 up against Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.
World No.1 Scheffler remains winless so far this Ryder Cup, while a neck injury forced Hovland out of the afternoon session.
RECAP ALL THE ACTION IN OUR LIVE BELOW. CAN’T SEE IT? CLICK HERE