Rory McIlroy’s reaction says everything hitting back at brutal Ryder Cup heckle before outburst

Rory McIlroy has been the target of some brutal heckling while facing off against Team USA in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York, and he hasn’t always been able to keep his cool

Rory McIlroy and US fans at the Ryder Cup clearly have a mutual dislike for each other.

And on Saturday, McIlroy responded to early heckling from Team USA fans on the first tee at Bethpage Black by blowing them kisses.

McIlroy teamed up with Tommy Fleetwood to face off against Harris English and Collin Morikawa for the second time in this Ryder Cup for Saturday’s foursomes; the European pair had easily defeated the Americans on Friday, contributing to their unbeaten 5-0 Ryder Cup record.

Throughout the week at Bethpage Black, McIlroy has been the target of widespread scorn. The Northern Irishman was greeted on the tee with a harsh three-word chant before he even hit a ball at the start of Friday’s foursomes.

By the afternoon fourballs, where he partnered with close friend and fellow countryman Shane Lowry, Team Europe was in control after Team USA had a disastrous start, leaving fans quiet and Bryson DeChambeau embarrassed. However, when playing against Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay alongside Lowry, McIlroy responded to jeers by flipping off fans.

As he prepared to tee off on Saturday, McIlroy once again reacted to taunts from rival fans who greeted him on the tee with chants of “ass—-!” and “F— you Rory!”

The five-time major champion smiled as he absorbed their chants before blowing a series of kisses towards the grandstand.

Fan behaviour has been a hot topic ahead of the tournament, and US rival Justin Thomas told fans in New York exactly where the line is when it comes to heckling players. Speaking ahead of the tournament, McIlroy discussed the challenge of playing in an unfamiliar and unfriendly setting in the United States.

“I think everyone has to find their own balance of what works for them or what – you know, we’re playing in an environment that we are not really used to or we don’t get to play in very often,” McIlroy shared with reporters.

“I’m very lucky, I get a lot of support pretty much everywhere I go when I play golf, and it’s going to feel a little different for me this week. But that’s to be expected, and that’s totally understandable.

“I feel at times in the Ryder Cup, I have engaged too much with that, too much with the crowd. But then there’s times where I haven’t engaged enough.

“So it’s really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance. I felt like at Hazeltine, I probably engaged too much at times, and then Whistling Straits, I didn’t engage enough and felt pretty flat because of it.

“It’s just trying to find that balance. I can’t tell anyone on the team what that balance is. They really have to find it themselves. But that’s the challenge of playing away, right.

“You’re not just trying to perform to your best level, but someone in the American Team holes a putt, and then you have to try to follow them in. But you know, you’ve got the crowd going crazy and you’re waiting for them to quiet.

“There’s a lot of little things like that that I guess takes you out of your normal routine that you just have to deal with, and that’s part of the challenge of this week.”

McIlroy, alongside Fleetwood, added another point to Europe’s tally in the foursomes on Saturday, but their round wasn’t without incident.

The Nothern Irishman lost his cool shortly before they clinched the point, reacting to one fan’s “FREEDOM” shout right before he was able to take his shot. McIlroy turned and blasted: “Guys, shut the f*** up!”