The facts, as they happened. It’s half past six in the morning in Bethpage. The grandstand at the 1st hole is already packed. There’s still more than half an hour before the first foursome match of the second day of the Ryder Cup tees off. For some time now, it’s been customary in both the Ryder Cup and Solheim to provide some entertainment for spectators waiting for the game to start. The aim is to entertain and, why not, warm up the atmosphere for when the players arrive.
How is it done? Very simple. With a good DJ playing lively music for people to sing and dance to, and a speaker encouraging some lyrics, rallying the crowd that, understandably, might still be a bit sleepy between sips of coffee. It’s usually a successful formula. This entertainment is organised by the organisers, in this case, being on American soil, the PGA of America.
Well, with the context set, here’s the story. Suddenly, as seen in the video, the girl on the microphone cheering launches into a shout ‘Fuck you, Rory, Fuck you’. A full-blown insult. We stress, it’s not someone from the crowd with a megaphone, it’s not a fan who’s had too much anisette… It’s the person hired by the organisation to liven up the mornings on the 1st hole tee. Needless to say, something like this goes far beyond bad taste. It’s clumsy and pathetic. And the PGA of America would do well to, at the very least, reprimand their overzealous announcer.
Important nuances. This is not a story we’re telling from hearsay. Ten Golf was there and recorded the video you can see accompanying this information. It’s not clear amidst all the shouting whether it’s the crowd in the grandstand that starts chanting it and the enthusiastic speaker who jumps on the bandwagon or vice versa. It would be even more crude if she started it, but it’s still something absolutely out of place. As we say, it happened at 6.30 am, when no one from the European or American team was yet on the tee. Another nuance. In no case, a justification.
When people talk about crossing the line, this could well be an example. The fan is free and old enough to say what they want and face the consequences, but someone from the organisation insulting one of the rival team’s players seems regrettable, clumsy, and pathetic.
It’s likely that what we’re telling you hasn’t been seen if you’ve been following the television broadcast, as there was no signal at that time. What you will have seen, and has been repeated ad nauseam, is the image of Rory McIlroy at the moment of his introduction, just before starting to play, blowing kisses to the grandstand. We don’t know if the Northern Irishman was already aware of what had happened just an hour before, but it’s certainly a good example of what he’s enduring this week in New York. Then everyone can draw their own conclusions, including, of course, the PGA of America.
