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Whatever happens, expect Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry to be in the middle of it all at Bethpage Black.
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Published Sep 25, 2025 • 4 minute read
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Rory McIlroy of Team Europe hits a tee shot during a practice round prior to the Ryder Cup. Getty ImagesArticle content
BETHPAGE, N.Y. — It never has been easy to win a Ryder Cup on foreign soil and Team Europe knows that’s not going to change this week in New York.
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Golf’s most raucous affair begins Friday at Bethpage Black, where a win by the U.S. squad would mark a record-setting six home wins in a row for teams at the biennial event. It has been 13 years since a road team left with the trophy, the most recent being Europe’s 2012 Miracle at Medinah comeback win.
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Without a doubt, the home crowd can play a role in the outcome and this week it’s quite likely no European players will have more to deal with than the Irish duo of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.
Two years ago in Italy, things took a strange turn when the Ryder Cup nearly ended with a fist fight in the parking lot with McIlroy and Lowry in the middle of it.
So what’s the duo’s plan this week when it comes to dealing with the New York faithful? Hopefully, not fisticuffs.
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“I feel at times in the Ryder Cup, I have engaged too much with that, too much with the crowd,” McIlroy said on Thursday. “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.”
“I can’t tell anyone on the team what that balance is. They really have to find it themselves. But that’s the challenge of playing away, right. You’re not just trying to perform to your best level.”
Matt Fitzpatrick will only have some of his family in attendance, with his parents opting to skip the event in part because of a bad experience at Whistling Straits in 2021.
“I left it completely up to them,” Fitzpatrick said. “They didn’t have a great experience in Whistling Straits. That’s not like a lie or anything or making anything up.”
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The Englishman’s parents are set to play next week in the Dunhill Links team event in Scotland, which Fitzpatrick also said played into their decision.
“No denying that they had a bad experience in the past, but there’s no reason why it has to be like that this time,” he added.
For his part, McIlroy always seems to find his way to the centre of everything, so it was no surprise that he and American star Bryson DeChambeau got involved in pre-tournament war of words in the media.
Apparently still resentful that McIlroy didn’t talk to him during the April’s historic final round at the Masters, DeChambeau had this to say about McIlroy at the Happy Gilmore 2 premiere: “I’ll be chirping in his ear this time. Now, if we go up against each other, I mean, you can be sure of it.”
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In true Happy Gilmore fashion, McIlroy lashed back at DeChambeau recently during an interview with The Gaurdian’s Ewan Murray: “I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people. That is basically what I think of that. To get attention he will mention me or Scottie (Scheffler) or others.”
Both players took the high road on Thursday when asked about one another, although McIlroy felt obliged to admit that he had more or less been muzzled by European captain Luke Donald.
“I promised Luke I would only talk about the European team today. I’m going to stick to it,” he said.
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But it’s much more likely that the New York fans will be the ones doing the chirping when play begins on Friday, and how Team Europe deals with it could determine the tenor of the week.
“I think it is important not to give the crowd too much to cling on to, but it’s also important to be yourself,” Lowry said. “You know, not try to be anyone different. I think what got me here is being myself and I think I have to be the best version of myself this week.”
If things get heated, don’t expect the burly Irishman to shy away from it.
“If my emotions do come out, it will be a good thing in certain ways,” he said. “Yeah, I have thought it, and I feel like I’m ready. I feel like I’m ready to deal with anything that’s given to me over the next few days. I’m looking forward to it.”
For the 2019 Open Champion Lowry, there is nothing bigger than the Ryder Cup, a point he made crystal clear on Thursday at Bethpage Black.
“I am who I am. This is what I live for. This is what I play golf for now,” he said. “Literally, this is it, this is what I play for. As soon as we finish here Sunday evening, I’ll be thinking about Adare Manor (and the 2027 Ryder Cup). It’s just who I am.”
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