The crowd at Bethpage Black for Day 2 of the Ryder Cup learned real fast Rory McIlroy wasn’t playing around.
McIlroy and Team Europe were trying to put even more distance between themselves and Team USA at Bethpage Black during Saturday morning foursomes. As expected, the partisan American crowd ragged on the Northern Ireland native all morning, and McIlroy finally reached a breaking point.
As McIlroy got set to hit an approach shot on at the 16th hole, American hecklers finally got under his skin. McIlroy stepped off his shot, told the crowd to “shut the (expletive) up” and readdressed his ball.
Rory McIlroy Silences Ryder Cup Crowd in More Ways Than One
The result was quite impressive. McIlroy refocused and launched an approach shot toward the green. It nestled right up to the flag stick, leaving partner Tommy Fleetwood 3 feet to win the match. Fleetwood poured in the birdie putt, and the European duo put a point on the board, pushing the Euros closer to retaining.
After the match, McIlroy shed the slightest bit of light into his thought process.
“You’ve gotta just focus on the task at hand,” he said, as seen on the NBC telecast. “I think in the team format, you can stick together with your partner and it makes it a little bit easier … excited where our team is at, (and) we gotta keep the foot down.”
Rory Embraces Villain Role at Bethpage Black
The Bethpage Black crowd unsurprisingly has been all over McIlroy since the start of the Ryder Cup. After Europe won in 2023 at Marco Simone in Rome, the five-time major winner called his shot, saying the Euros would win in New York, too. If they can do so, they’d be the first away team to secure the Cup since 2012.
In making that proclamation, though, he made himself Public Enemy No. 1 for the Long Island crowd. After he was heckled all day during Day 1, McIlroy was welcomed back to the course early Saturday morning with “(Expletive) you, Rory” chants at the first tee.
McIlroy largely took it in stride and even played into it during player introductions.
And with his win in morning foursomes, McIlroy improved his record for the week to 2-0-1, backing up his words in more ways than one.
Rory McIlroy Tells Ryder Cup Crowd to Shut Up Before Icing Match