Tom Watson, the eight-time major winner and former Ryder Cup captain, has congratulated the victorious European team and apologised for the “rude” behaviour of the American crowd at Bethpage Black.
Europe’s thrilling victory over the USA was marred by incidents involving fans and spectators abusing the visiting players, particularly Rory McIlroy, with his wife Erica having a beer thrown over her and an MC standing down after leading an offensive chant about the Masters champion.
Watson, who is one of the greatest American golfers of all time and won three Ryder Cups in his illustrious career, posted on social media stating that he was “ashamed” of the scenes that unfolded across the three days of play at the New York course.
“I’d like to congratulate [Europe] on their victory,” Watson said. “Your team play for the first few days was sensational. More importantly, I’d like to apologize for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage.
“As a former player, captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened.”
McIlroy was targeted with abuse throughout a chaotic day two in a fourballs match alongside Shane Lowry, while a video surfaced online of the Northern Irishman consoling his wife and wiping the top of her hat after a beer had been thrown over her.
McIlroy was subjected to heckling and personal insults and was followed by the police on Saturday and Sunday. After Europe’s win, he revealed the extend of the abuse he had received and said “there was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behaviour”.
“I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” McIlroy said. “I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week. Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons.
“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. We will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable.
“Come and support your team. I think if I was an American, I would be annoyed … I didn’t hear a lot of shouts for Scottie [Scheffler] today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me. It’s like, support your players. That’s the thing.
“It was a rough week for all of us. 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 a few times, 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.”
