Ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Rory McIlroy sat down with BBC Sport and offered fans updates and opinions on the current state of golf. While he had opinions on LIV Golf’s recent major announcement, he also offered an unexpected update in the aftermath of the Ryder Cup controversy.
McIlroy gave praise to the American team, speaking on their kindness and apologies as the crowd hurled insults, not only at McIlroy, but at his wife Erica. As the weekend went on, the crowd continued their efforts to get in Rory’s head. With the European Team in the lead, the chants and comments grew increasingly inappropriate, and eventually someone tossed a drink their way, and it unfortunately hit Erica.
Rory Details Apology
During his interview with BBC Sport, the conversation moved towards the Ryder Cup controversy. Rory began the conversation by specifying that he was speaking only of the crowd, and not of his American competitors.
“I take it as a compliment that they targeted me,” McIlroy said. “But then at the same time, it was a tough week. That made us better as a team.”
“It galvanized us and it really put our arms around each other. Honestly, I was just so happy to have Shane beside me on Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon. He was like the big brother I never had out there those two afternoons,” McIlroy added.
“He played incredible golf to keep us in it. And we won one and a half points out of our two matches. Him holing that putt was just a perfect way to end the week.”
The interviewer pushed further on the hot topic, mentioning that the PGA of America said they would apologize, and wondering if Rory had yet received that from them.
“I got a lovely email from Derek Sprague apologizing,” said McIlroy.
“Erica worked with Derek at the PGA of America back in the day so we know Derek and his wife pretty well. He couldn’t have been more gracious or apologetic and he wrote us a lovely letter, which we really appreciated.”
Ryder Cup Results
After two days of foursomes and four-ball matchups, the European team came out heavily on top, with little to no chance for the Americans to make a comeback. A 12-5 lead going into Sunday meant Team USA needed an almost perfect day of singles to shoot for the win. Miraculously, they nearly did just that, and put on one of the greatest Ryder Cup shows in recent years.
Despite not winning, the America team put up 8 1/2 points on Sunday, and nearly toppled the hold Team Europe had on the competition. They couldn’t pull through in the end and Europe won again, part of a trend in recent years. Notably, Team Europe has come out on top in 11 of the last 15 Ryder Cup’s, including 5 without home field advantage. The 2025 victory also marked a back-to-back win for Captain Luke Donald, only the second European leader to have accomplished the difficult feat.
The next Ryder Cup will return to Europe, taking place in Ireland at the Adare Manor in September of 2027.
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