Rory McIlroy’s wife subjected to insults, Shane Lowry taunted over appearance by fans on fiery Ryder Cup Day 2

Rory McIlroy (on the left) and Shane Lowry (on the right) / Source: Getty Images
Rory McIlroy (on the left) and Shane Lowry (on the right) / Source: Getty Images

The second day of the Ryder Cup saw Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry competing against the pair of Justin Thomas and Cameron Young. However, apart from the Europeans' domination, something else made the Saturday fourball worth remembering.

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On September 27, 2025, the 2024 Zurich Classic at New Orleans winners went through extreme levels of heckling. McIlroy's wife, Erica Stoll, was in attendance at Bethpage Black on Saturday. As McIlroy kept racking up crucial Ryder Cup points for Team Europe, Stoll had to deal with insults from the US fans.

This incident was reported by Joel M Beall, a senior golf reporter at Golf Digest. Beall also admitted to listening to repeated insults at families or wives while being with the group for two hours. Take a look at this post on X (previously Twitter) by NUCLR GOLF about today's incident at the Ryder Cup venue:

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"🚨🗣️⛳️ #UPDATE... Unruly fan behaviour being directed at Lowry / McIlroy group reportedly involves personal insults about wives / families / physical appearance...(Via: @JoelMBeall)"
Screenshot from NUCLR Golf's X post / Source: @NUCLRGOLF on X
Screenshot from NUCLR Golf's X post / Source: @NUCLRGOLF on X

On the other hand, McIlroy's fourball buddy was hit with taunts as he was making a shot. The audience at Bethpage Black ended up mocking Lowry regarding his appearance. A clip shared by NUCLR GOLF on X showed a fan at the Ryder Cup venue labeling Lowry as 'Teletubby'. Take a look at the video on X:

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"🗣️ #VIDEO... ‘TELETUBBY!'... New York fans TAUNT Shane Lowry following his approach 😵 @LowryTracker ."
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As Beall further reported in one of his tweets, McIlroy ended up losing it at the security guard who was in charge of crowd management at the Ryder Cup venue. In another one of his X posts, the reporter talked about security being increased at the course as McIlroy and Shane's group headed 'to the back'.

This year's biennial golf tournament was expected to present Team Europe with a hostile environment. McIlroy himself has talked about how a 'partisan' crowd at Bethpage Black might end up being a hurdle towards Europe's potential away Ryder Cup win. It's worth noting that the partners of the golfers were also warned.

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Former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart warned Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry's squad's partners of potential abuse

A week ago, Andrew Coltart spoke with the media regarding the raucous crowd at Bethpage Black. In his statement, the golfer from Dumfries warned wives and partners of Europeans of the US crowd. Coltart also advised them to stay away from the biennial tournament venue and watch the Ryder Cup elsewhere (as quoted by The Sun):

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"My wife wasn't getting abused because she was back home... some of the other wives and girlfriends had been getting abuse from the crowd..."
"For Bethpage Black... might not be a great idea to go out there and they can watch it from a room where it's safe and secure... it potentially can be an atmosphere they will never ever be used to... could be quite upsetting..."

Although the Irish golfers were repeatedly heckled, the golfers did fire back at times. During the morning foursomes on Saturday, McIlroy yelled back at the audience and told them to 'shut the f**k up'. After Lowry won the fourth point for Team Europe when he holed an Eagle putt, he pointed at a fan in the crowd and let out a heartfelt 'yeah, come on... f**k you'.

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Edited by Pravashis Biswas
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