A new angle of a drink ‘thrown’ from the Ryder Cup crowd before hitting Rory McIlroy’s wife has emerged with the five-time major winner addressing the unsavoury scenes.
As expected, the Ryder Cup was as exciting as ever, with both the on- and off-course action among the many talking points.
Throughout the tournament, there were several unsavoury incidents involving US-favouring hecklers and the eventually victorious European players.
McIlroy even told the crowd to “shut the f**k” up on day two before then refusing to take a shot until the rowdy American spectators quietened down.
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Meanwhile, his European teammate Shane Lowry had several exchanges with hecklers, even screaming “f**k you” at one after holing a ball on Saturday.
Later on day two, he appeared to be restrained as he attempted to address another heckler before security intervened.
At times, some members of the American crowd crossed the line and resorted to personally insulting Lowry and McIlroy, with one host even having to step down from her role after leading vulgar chants directed towards the 36-year-old.
A report from The Telegraph suggested that remarks about McIlroy’s wife, Eric Stoll, and Lowry’s weight were at the centre of the insults, with “widespread use of the F word” as Team Europe prepared to play their shots.
In one incident, a drink appeared to be thrown towards McIlroy’s wife, but a new angle appears to show that a spectator hit the drink out of another fan’s hand before it grazed Stoll’s hat, before she turned around in shock.
Rory McIlroy addresses incident involving wife
Earlier in the tournament, the five-time major winner insisted that he didn’t mind some banter between the players and the crowd, but some fans later crossed the line with the Northern Irishman branding the incident as “unacceptable” following Europe’s 15-13 victory on day three.
"It should be off-limits, but it wasn't this week," McIlroy said on Sunday.
"Erica is fine. She's a strong woman. She handled everything this week with class and poise, and dignity like she always has. I love her and we're going to have a good time celebrating [this win]."
He then discussed his own conduct, having snapped back at supporters throughout the tournament.
"I chirped back 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," he said.
"It was a rough week for all of us. But at the same time, we shut them up by our performance."
Topics: Ryder Cup, Rory Mcilroy, Golf
Luke Davies