Paul Azinger says Rory McIlroy’s comments about the abuse he received at the Ryder Cup smacked of hypocrisy given the foul-mouthed retorts he fired back at the Bethpage Black crowd.
McIlroy was subjected to relentless taunts and jeers from rowdy USA fans throughout this year’s absorbing contest, but managed to block out the noise to help Team Europe successfully retain their title in New York.
At times, though, the atmosphere turned nasty, with one heckler removed from the course for aiming an offensive homophobic insult at the Northern Irishman.
The PGA of America were forced to call in State Police to provide extra protection for Europe after another spectator struck McIlroy’s wife, Erica Stoll, with a flying drink as tempers flared on day two.
But US captain Keegan Bradley was reluctant to criticise fans for their behaviour when facing the media, insisting it was simply a release of ‘passion’ in the heat of sporting battle.
Luke Donald took an altogether different view, arguing that some of the more unsavoury remarks had ‘crossed a line’ and were intended to disrupt his players during their routines.
‘It was loud, it was raucous,’ Europe’s skipper told reporters.
‘What I consider crossing the line is personal insults and making sounds when they are trying to hit on their backswings or very close to when they are trying to go into their routines. That did happen a little bit.’
McIlroy was left visibly upset by some of the abuse he received during his fourball match-up against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, alongside childhood friend Shane Lowry.
The 2025 Masters champion appeared to reach the end of his tether on the sixth hole, making it clear to a referee that he had no intention of playing his shot until the booing and jeering had ceased.
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He also told the nearby crowd to, ‘Shut the f*** up!’, on the 16th and was later seen blowing kisses at US fans and chirping back, ‘F*** you! F*** you! F*** you!’, after the final hole.
But after McIlroy condemned the way he had been treated after Europe’s win, American golfer Azinger hit back, claiming the 36-year-old was a far-from-innocent party when tensions boiled over.
‘In the press conference, after it’s over, he’s saying, “I think golf should be held to a higher standard of decorum”, but in the meantime he says, “f*** you, f*** you, f*** you!” in full voice for the world to see,’ Azinger, who captained the USA in 2008, said on the Subpar podcast.
‘He turns around and says to the guy, “shut the f*** up!”, and the guy in the media asks him, “How did that feel, Rory, to tell that guy to shut the f*** up and then hit it two feet?”, and he said: “It felt pretty f***ing good!”
‘Which is it, Rory? Is it that golf is held to a higher standard or are you just going to “f*** you” the fans and act like that’s okay?
‘I love Rory, but you can’t say that. You can’t say that the fans need to behave better and then, in the meantime, lay them to waste.’
While Europe celebrated their victory into the early hours of Monday morning, racking up a £230,000 bar bill in the process, a despondent Scottie Scheffler described the US’ defeat as one of the ‘lowest moments’ of his professional career.
‘My emotions on Saturday afternoon when the matches ended, I think it’s hard to put into words how much it hurts to lose all four matches,’ Scheffler told reporters.
‘This week did not go how I anticipated it going for myself and I’m a little bit bummed.
‘To have the trust of my captains and team-mates to go out there and play all four matches and lose all four, it’s really hard to put into words how much that stings and hurts.
‘I’ll go back and reflect on that. But one of the coolest things was these guys picking me up on Saturday night.
‘The guys on this team, this is a really special group of guys. We have a special captain and I was proud to be standing there fighting with these guys.
‘It was probably one of the lowest moments of my career, but it turned out to be one of the most special, just because I’ve got great friends in this room and I was really proud to be battling with these guys for three days.’
The world number one added: ‘Things just did not work out the way I anticipated, but I was proud to be able to get a point.
‘It’s tough, playing all five matches is a grind. Rory and I even chatted about that a little bit. It was a grind and I’m pretty tired, but I’m proud of the fight that our team showed.
‘It was a difficult week for me personally. I was just proud to get a point up on the board and keep this thing alive for a little bit longer.’