The president of the PGA of America has come under fire for downplaying the abuse aimed at Rory McIlroy during the 45th Ryder Cup.
PGA president Don Rea, who heads up the governing body that administers the biennial competition in the United States, claims Rory McIlroy “understands” why he was targeted at Bethpage.
On a hostile Saturday afternoon in New York, the Northern Irishman – partnering Shane Lowry to take on Justin Thomas and Cameron Young – was subject to taunts about his personal life, including his publicized marital problems, and homophobic slurs. At one point, McIlroy’s wife, Erica, had a drink thrown at her, while Lowry was constantly goaded about his weight.
Here’s the full scene as Rory McIlroy’s wife Erica got hit with a beer (glanced off her hat) on Saturday afternoon.
Rory and Lowry had just won on 18 and he was coming back to 17 to cheer on the groups behind — and celebrate with Euro fans.
Looked like someone hit the drink out… pic.twitter.com/vdG4mAny1s
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) September 28, 2025
Thomas was seen on a number of occasions asking the crowds to calm down, and it led to the PGA of America posting messages on the big screens dotted around the course warning fans that they would be ejected for bad behavior. Police presence around the match also noticeably increased.
After holding off the American fightback on Sunday, McIlroy said “golf should be held to a higher standard than what we’ve seen out there this week”.
“I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” he added. “Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons – it teaches you etiquette, it teaches you how to play by the rules, it teaches you how to respect people.
“Sometimes this week we didn’t see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup… it was a rough week for all of us.”
Lowry added: “I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing. The way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable.”
All rather unsavoury out here with Match 1.
Few personal taunts at Rory about a certain rumour that did the rounds last year.
Wife Erica was following the group but looks like she’s decided to get away.
JT’s gone from whipping the crowd up to telling them to STFU.
Grim stuff.
— Alex Perry (@byAlexPerry) September 27, 2025
It all came about on a day that had started with comedian Heather McMahan being forced to quit her role as first tee MC after leading a foul-mouthed chant against the Masters champion.
Rea, though, chose to downplay the situation.
In an interview with BBC Sport, which was recorded before Sunday’s singles matches but appeared on social media after Europe had completed their 15-13 win, he said: “Well you have 50,000 people there that are really excited. Heck, you can go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things.
“We tell the fans: booing somebody doesn’t make them play worse. Typically it makes them play better.
“When our American players have to control the crowds, that distracts them from playing.”
But it was when Rea was asked about his thoughts on the abuse aimed at McIlroy and Lowry that the interview took a turn.
“I haven’t heard some of that,” he claimed. “I’m sure it’s happened. It happened when we were in Rome on the other side and Rory understands.”
For those with a short memory, the worst “abuse” dished out by European fans at Marco Simone was waving their caps at Patrick Cantlay over his part in the Ryder Cup pay row.
Rea concluded: “Things like that are going to happen and I don’t know what was said, but all I know is golf is the engine of good.”
Tyrrell Hatton, who headed straight to the Dunhill Links Championship, was asked about the comparisons to the Rome crowd ahead of his title defence in Scotland.
“Personally, I don’t think they were close at all,” Hatton, one of two players to end the week unbeaten at Bethpage, responded. “I don’t think Rome comes anywhere near that. I don’t agree with what they said there.”
On his own abuse at the Ryder Cup, Hatton said he tried to avoid winding up the crowd, instead deciding to celebrate with teammates.
“Some guys on the team had a lot worse than others,” he explained. “For me personally, there was a lot of insults maybe around height or hairline or weight – some of which I pretty much said to myself anyway, so it wasn’t like anything new.
“I was really happy with how I managed my emotions on the golf course. I didn’t really let anything affect me. Even if I hit bad shots, I didn’t overly react. I was pretty calm, and as we know that can be difficult for me sometimes.”
As for Adare Manor in two years’ time, Hatton would like to see that behavior knocked on the head.
“I don’t really think that the insults is the way forward,” the Englishman explained. “I would much prefer it to be a respectful atmosphere [where] you let the guys play and the best team wins, rather than trying to affect the outcome by trying to putt off players or things like that.
“But I don’t think it will be as hostile as maybe as it was last week. I’d like to think that it will be very respectful.”
About the author
News editor and writer. Probably entertainer third.
He is a keen golfer who claims to play off 12 and enjoys traveling the world to try new courses. His three favorites are Royal North Devon, the Old Course at St Andrews, and Royal Portrush – with special mentions for Okehampton and Bude & North Cornwall, where he first fell in love with the game.
He uses a combination of Ping, TaylorMade and Callaway gear, and once bought the Nike SQ driver which he absolutely did not immediately regret.