Rory McIlroy condemns Ryder Cup homophobic abuse and reveals his wife had beer thrown at her

Golfer Rory McIlroy has slammed members of the public for their “unacceptable and abusive behaviour” after he was heckled by the crowd at the Ryder Cup.

Europe retained the trophy, winning 15-13 after holding off a late surge by the Americans at the Bethpage Black course in Long Island, New York. But the visitors, and in particular Northern Irishman McIlroy, were subjected to abuse as they prepared to take shots.

The shouting included personal insults and homophobic slurs, with fans of the US team having been led in a chant of “F**k you, Rory” at the first tee by emcee and comedian Heather McMahan. She later apologised to and stood back from her duties on the final day, Sunday (28 September), the BBC reported.

The barbs aimed at McIlroy included one spectator yelling: “Rory, don’t let your boyfriend down,” followed by other slurs which Golf Digest’s senior writer Joel Beall said “cannot be printed”.

Elsewhere, McIlroy’s wife, Erica Stoll, was hit when someone else threw their beer into the crowd.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, McIlroy said: “I don’t think we should ever accept that. 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 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. This should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup.”

The Masters champion went on to praise his wife for the way she handled the abuse.

“Erica is fine, she’s a very, very strong woman,” he said. “She handled everything with class and poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”

Teammate Shane Lowry, a close friend of McIlroy, described the amount of abuse Stoll faced as astonishing.

“The way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable,” he said.

Another member of the victorious European team, Englishman Justin Rose, didn’t hear about the incident until much later. “She didn’t bring that to the team room,” he told The Independent. “That says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody on this team.”

Homophobic abuse is more common at football games than on the golf course. The “Chelsea rent boy” chant is often used at grounds, aimed mainly at current and former players of the West London Premier League Club.

In 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service branded the chant a homophobic hate crime and not “harmless banter”. The following year, the FA announced that clubs would be fined or subjected to “formal disciplinary action” if fans sang the chants during matches.

Since then, Premier League clubs West Ham, Tottenham and Wolves have been fined for failing to control fans.

Songs about tragedies have also been sung from the stands at major games.

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