Rory McIlroy branded ‘insufferable baby’ after wife was targeted by Ryder Cup fans | Golf | Sport
Rory McIlroy has been branded an ‘insufferable baby’ after the Team Europe star hit back at Ryder Cup supporters for hurling a drink at his wife, Erica Stoll. The Northern Irishman faced relentless heckling from the raucous New York crowd assembled at Bethpage Black Golf Course. Words were not the only projectiles aimed at McIlroy, as one spectator appeared to launch a beverage in his direction but struck his wife instead.
In footage that has since gone viral, McIlroy can be seen comforting Stoll and brushing something from her hat before enquiring: “Are you OK?”. Speaking after Europe’s triumph over Team USA, he condemned the ‘unacceptable behaviour’ of spectators whilst praising his partner’s resilience and grace.
“It should be off-limits, but obviously it wasn’t this week,” McIlroy said. “Erica is fine. She’s a very, very strong woman.
“You know, she handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
Discussing the incident on Wake Up Barstool, American media mogul Dave Portnoy conceded that supporters overstepped the mark by striking Stoll with a beer. Nevertheless, the 48-year-old argued that McIlroy was partly responsible for repeatedly confronting the crowd.
“I go circular on this, like, I find Rory McIlroy one of the weakest, insufferable baby, everything when you think of what makes you maybe not like a country club golfer, I think of him,” said Portnoy.
“Now, then it starts changing, like the Bethpage crowd is kind of going over the line here. You have the drink hit on him. Now the drink you see, we’ve seen the replay, the guy hits it out of his hand.
“I still think you attribute then that an intentional move from the guy who swatted the drink. I don’t know if it’s as vicious as a direct hit.
“On the other side of the thing, all Rory does is he’s like: ‘This is over the line.’ And then he’s telling them like, shut up with the F-word in there. And he’s refusing to putt and he’s inciting the crowd. So I don’t know where I sit on this.
“I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong because it seems like it all boils up and goes against each other. And in the end, maybe it’s just a bunch of golfers being babies. I’m not a hundred percent sure.”
With regards to forthcoming Ryder Cups, McIlroy maintained that spectators’ rowdy conduct cannot be permitted at the biennial tournament.
“I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” he said. “I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.
“Golf has the ability to you unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people.
“Sometimes this week we didn’t see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup. But you know, we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable, and for me, it’s – you know, come and support your team.”
