FARMINGDALE, N.Y.: Rory McIlroy got so fed up with one American at the Ryder Cup that he asked security to throw out the spectator. The noise was so loud and relentless that McIlroy talked about taking medicine for a headache.
This was 2016 at Hazeltine.
The behavior at Bethpage Black took the atmosphere to a new level, which surprised no one who has seen championship golf on the Long Island public course even without an “us versus them” competition involving flags like the Ryder Cup.
The tone was set Friday morning when a fan screamed out, “Fore, right!” as Jon Rahm was over his tee shot. A small section started an expletive chant at McIlroy, which was repeated Saturday morning by Heather McMahan, hired as a master of ceremonies by the PGA of America.
The Ryder Cup crowd has been getting out of control going back to Brookline in ‘99, when Colin Montgomerie took so much personal abuse that his father walked off the golf course. The crowd began turning on the home team for losing in a year when money was at the forefront. And then on Sunday, it flipped hard the other direction with the US comeback to win.
There was curiosity going into the week if the New York fans — no stranger to teams underperforming — would turn on the Americans or double down on their vitriol toward the Europeans. It turned out to be the latter.
“Things got out of hand — that was disappointing. We knew the crowds would be like that,” former PGA of America president Ted Bishop told golfchannel.com. “If you’ve attended any New York sporting event, Yankees, Mets, that’s what you’re going to get in New York.”
Bishop was PGA president when the Ryder Cup was awarded to Bethpage Black. He also was the president who appointed Tom Watson captain of the ‘14 matches at age 65, which led to a task force to give players more control.
What makes it worse now is a culture in which fans think it’s acceptable to do this. Think back to The Players Championship in a practice round when a University of Texas player took video of heckling McIlroy after a tee shot into the water. McIlroy walked over and took his phone.
There is loud, and there is lewd. Bethpage was the latter. That prompted McIlroy to say golf should be held to a higher standard. “I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf. I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.”
Then again, McIlroy and Shane Lowry retaliated with F-bombs of their own.
Equally troubling, however, is another trend on both sides of the Atlantic. When the visiting team missed a putt or missed the fairway, there used to be a lag time of a few seconds before the home crowd clapped or cheered. Now it’s immediate.
There’s little chance of that going back to the way it was.
Back to work
The extreme highs and lows of the Ryder Cup are over, and now it’s time to get to work for 10 players directly involved at Bethpage Black.
Rasmus Hojgaard went from his Ryder Cup debut to trying to keep his full PGA Tour status. The Dane is No. 87 in the FedEx Cup standings and playing in the Sanderson Farms Championship this week in Mississippi.
The top 100 in the FedEx Cup keep their PGA Tour cards. Also in Mississippi are vice captains Brandt Snedeker and Francesco Molinari.
Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntire have flown to Scotland for the Dunhill Links Championship, where Hatton is the defending champion.
And then there was this reminder from Tabitha Furyk, the wife of Jim Furyk who does most of the heavy lifting for the Constellation Furyk & Friends event on the PGA Tour Champions this week in Jacksonville, Florida. She told of Thomas Bjorn approaching her at Bethpage Black and asking about his pro-am time.
Bjorn and fellow vice captain Jose Maria Olazabal were on a flight Monday from New York to Jacksonville. Furyk, meanwhile, goes from being a vice captain to his first time playing since hip replacement surgery in April.
Fleetwood Honor
Along with being the leading points-earner for Europe at Bethpage Black, Tommy Fleetwood won the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award, which honors the player who best embodies the true spirit of the Ryder Cup. It’s named after Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, part of Ryder Cup lore for allowing the 1969 matches to end in a draw.
Fleetwood went 4-1-0, raising his record in four Ryder Cups to 11-4-2.
He also kept a cool head during the one tense moment inside the ropes, when Justin Rose barked at Bryson DeChambeau’s caddie for walking in his space as Rose was studying his putt during fourballs.
“Sportsmanship is important to our game and the Ryder Cup is the most intense environment we experience, and things can always happen that test you,” Fleetwood said. “But Luke Donald has instilled in this team an amazing attitude that we should always play with the right spirit. That has really helped us get over the line and win the Ryder Cup once again.”
Moving on
Wake Forest alum Michael Brennan is among 10 players from the PGA Tour Americas who are moving up. Brennan won three times to secure Korn Ferry Tour membership, and he picked up a $25,000 bonus for leading the Fortinet Cup in Canada.
Brennan also secured a spot in the RBC Canadian Open next year.
The others from the top 10 who move on to the Korn Ferry Tour are Jay Card III, Davis Lamb, David Perkins, Brett White, Derek Hitchner, John Marshall Butler, Drew Nesbitt, Theo Humphrey and Carson Bacha.
Nesbitt also gets into the Canadian Open as the top Canadian on the points list.
Divots
Tyrrell Hatton now has gone eight consecutive Ryder Cup matches without losing, dating to his singles loss to Justin Thomas in 2021 at Whistling Straits. ... The Netherlands can count on local presence when it hosts the Solheim Cup next year. Anne van Dam has been appointed a vice captain for Anna Nordqvist. ... Nicolas Colsaerts is making his 500th career start on the European tour this week in the Dunhill Links Championship. Colsaerts is retiring from full-time golf after this year. ... The Travelers Championship generated more than $4 million for 245 charities, the most in its tournament history. ... The Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and the Memorial again will provide one spot into the British Open for the leading player not already exempt. The Canadian Open will have three spots.
Stat of the week
Starting with the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone, Scottie Scheffler has won 38 percent of the tournaments he has played and 22 percent of his Ryder Cup matches.
Final word
“It’s the best. It’s more fun than any event we play. There’s nothing else you can be a part of where you can just get your face kicked in like we did the first two days and have that much fun.” — Justin Thomas on the Ryder Cup.
