Roy Keane has no sympathy for the European stars of the Ryder Cup over the abuse they received in America, labelling complaints as ‘ridiculous’.
Team Europe dramatically won the 2025 Ryder Cup last month at Bethpage in New York, opening up a huge lead and holding off a stunning American comeback on the final day to claim a 15-13 victory.
The event was marred by the behaviour of some home fans, who hurled abuse at European players throughout the competition.
Rory McIlroy seemed to be the target of more abuse than any other player, with grim personal taunts fired at him.
The Northern Irishman snapped back at one stage, telling a fan to ‘shut the f*** up’ while he had another supporter removed.
McIlory’s wife Erica Stoll was also the target of abuse and was even hit by a beer thrown in her direction at one point.
Keane, though, is not moved to sympathy, telling The Overlap: ‘I’m no expert in golf – I don’t play but I watch top level sport.
‘You’re saying the pressure’s on these players because some people were shouting? Become a footballer and go to Leeds or Anfield on a Tuesday night, let me tell you.
‘These guys play in big tournaments every week. All of a sudden, they’re going to be upset by a few Yanks?
‘You’ve got McIlroy, McIlroy’s won all the big prizes. Do you think he’s going to be upset by a few people? It’s ridiculous!’
He also wasn’t sure why McIlroy would have his wife on the course if it was leading to her being abused and him being further distracted.
‘And then they get upset because of their partners…let me tell you what I would say to my partner,’ said the Manchester United legend.
‘If I was a golfer, and my partner was getting abuse, I’d say to my partner, or my wife, or my girlfriend, “Just stay in the hotel, love. I’ll see you tonight when I get back. You don’t come to the other tournaments, but guess what? You get a new outfit and come to the Ryder Cup! You’ve got a new outfit, a new belt, new handbag and then I’m getting loads of stick? Well, go home!”
‘I guarantee you they’re going back to a nice hotel, they’re not in a camp, in a tent.’
It was suggested to Keane that golfers expect the Ryder Cup to be a more civilised event than it was this year and there was hope for better behaviour from fans, but the Irishman was not having it.
‘They knew that before! Of course they knew,’ he said. ‘They’ve built it up for the last six months, “Wait til you come to America.”
‘Of course they knew they were going to get abused! They should go to a football match.’
Speaking ahead of his first tournament since the Ryder Cup – this week’s DP World Tour’s India Championship – McIlroy said he wanted to move on from the crowd behaviour and focus on the brilliant European win.
‘The unfortunate thing is people aren’t remembering that [performance] and they are remembering the week for the wrong reason,’ he said.
‘I would like to shift the narrative and focus on how good the European team were and how proud I was to be part of that team to win an away Ryder Cup.’