The 2025 Ryder Cup has finished with Europe hanging on to beat the United States team at the Bethpage Black in New York. Europe won 15-13 after it held off the US team when they were rallying in the singles competition. Despite Europe's big win, one of the biggest stories was how the fans behaved in New York, with many questioning whether their behavior was warranted.
Comedian Heather McMahan was one of the MCs for the event at Bethpage, and after chants rang out of “F*** you, Rory,” She stepped down. She got caught up in the moment and participated in the chant at first, but later apologized to Rory McIlroy and stepped down due to the chant. She also took to her podcast, “Absolutely Not,” to explain what happened and apologize even more.
“I would just like to say that I immediately did not like the energy and the vibe from when that started to happen. I will take full responsibility, and sincerely apologize to Rory [McIlroy], team Europe for saying that,” she said. “It was so foolish of me.
“I did not start the chant; I want that narrative to get out there. I did not start it, but anyway, I participated in that, even just saying it once, which was so foolish and silly of me.”
McMahan said she quickly tried calming the crowd after feeling the “energy” shift after she started directing fans in a “DeChambeau!” chant.
“It went from us trying to be fun and funny and like get it going, to immediately just being negative and feeling really toxic,” she said. “As soon as I said that, I was like, ‘I don’t want any part of this. This was getting weird, and I don’t know how to control this crowd of 4,000 dudes at five o’clock in the morning, shouting crazy s***.'
“As soon as that happened, I immediately turned to my producer and said, ‘Let’s get the DJ to play music. I don’t know what to do with this audience right now, so I’m not going to participate.’”
Although this incident was more high-profile, it was just one of countless incidents of harassment of McIlroy and the European players during the entire Ryder Cup.
McIlroy repeatedly had to step away from his ball during matches while fans heckled him. The PGA of America sent out extra police halfway through a game to help control a crowd, and his wife Erica had a drink launched her way at one point.
Multiple members of the European team called out the PGA of America leadership over the fan behavior and advocated for the fact that something needs to change.
