Collin Morikawa says he “didn’t mean” for spectators at the Ryder Cup to cross the line as he explained his encouragement for “absolute chaos” ahead of the event.
Team Europe beat Team USA 15-13 in a fiery contest over three days at Bethpage Black in New York where crowd behaviour dominated the headlines and prompted extra security for the last day.
Rory McIlroy’s wife Erica had beer thrown at her and the five-time major champion himself was subjected to personal insults, including a rendition of “f*** you Rory” which was encouraged by the MC at Bethpage Black.
McIlroy responded to one heckler during his second foursomes match with Tommy Fleetwood by telling them to “shut the f*** up”, before firing his approach close and securing the birdie to give them a 3&2 win over Harris English and Morikawa.
There appeared to be a less hostile environment during the singles but McIlroy felt a minority of the crowd were still “disrespectful” and “abusive”.
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Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose all experienced the rowdy atmosphere at the Ryder Cup during their singles matches
Ahead of this week’s Baycurrent Classic in Japan, Morikawa was asked if he felt any responsibility for the fan behaviour and said: “I think we’ve taken what I said a little out of context.
“I think Ryder Cups are meant to have a lot of energy, right, and I think me saying the word ‘chaos’, I didn’t mean for them to be rude, right?
“So like that’s not on me, I believe for me to take credit for people being rude. I think what I meant was like I wanted energy, right?
“You wanted people to be proud of the country, the countries they’re rooting for. So I don’t think me saying one word, everyone listened and then – I don’t think I have the power to do that amongst people.”
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McIlroy refused to putt while the US crowds shouted out at him on the sixth green at the Ryder Cup
Spectators were warned about consuming alcohol responsibly and the PGA of America put out a statement during the Ryder Cup to say it was “closely monitoring” fan behaviour.
European captain Luke Donald accused American fans of “crossing the line” which Morikawa agreed with.
“I think fans can do and say what they want sometimes. It probably crossed a line out there. It wasn’t in my groups but definitely what people were hearing,” he said.
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McIlroy had some stern words for the US crowd before he hit one of the shots of the week on the 16th hole at the Ryder Cup
“Yeah, there’s a line that needs to be drawn, I believe. But I think that’s what’s so different and unique about golf is that we hear nearly everything what people say because people have access to be so close to us.
“You look at a lot of other sports, you don’t really hear much. Things are said, but golf has that different aspect to it. So I think you have to learn how to find that division of what’s appropriate and what’s not.”
Schauffele: I wish we played better to give fans more to cheer for
USA faced a hammering as they trailed Europe 11.5-4.5 entering the final day but produced an incredible fightback and put Donald’s side on the ropes.
One of the points McIlroy made when criticising fans was the lack of support for the American players which the Northern Irishman said he would be annoyed by.
He added: “I didn’t hear a lot of shouts for Scottie [Scheffler], but I heard a lot of shouts against me. It’s like, support your players. That’s the thing.”
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American fans were accused of ‘crossing the line’ with comments towards European players at Bethpage during the Ryder Cup and increased security was required to police rowdy behaviour
Xander Schauffele, who is also playing in the Baycurrent Classic which starts on Thursday, admitted he heard “unsavoury” comments and believes USA did not play well enough to give the fans something to shout about.
“I really wish we could have played better to have them cheer for us a bit more. New York’s a tough place to play for anyone,” he said.
“I even got a few comments to play better. I’m not taking much personally when it comes to sort of what fans say.”
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