The 2025 Ryder Cup will be remembered for Team Europe's incredible triumph on away soil as well as USA's dramatic Sunday fightback, but it will also be remembered for the ugly scenes on Saturday afternoon where Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were victims of horrible abuse from portions of the crowd.
It's a storyline that almost overshadowed the entire Ryder Cup and made some fear for the future of fan behavior in the match, which appears to be becoming more and more partisan.
McIlroy once again received jibes from the home fans on Sunday in his loss to World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, and he addressed what some crowd members threw at him this week, calling it unacceptable and stating that fans crossing the line will not be tolerated at Adare Manor in two years' time.
The Northern Irishman was also confused as to why the home fans were seemingly abusing him more than they were supporting their own players.
"Look, I don't think we should ever accept that in golf," McIlroy said in Team Europe's winning Ryder Cup press conference.
"I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.
"Golf has the ability to 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 home team.
"Come and support your team. I think if I was an American, I would be annoyed that people - I didn't hear a lot of shouts for Scottie today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me.
"It's like, support your players. That's the thing.
"Look, it was a rough week for all of us. But at the same time, we shut them up by our performance and how we played, and we tried to - I chirped back a few times because it got to me a few times, but we tried to handle everything that came our way with class and poise, and for the most part, I felt like we did that."
Things reached boiling point on Saturday afternoon, where a beer was thrown at him and his wife, Erica, and offensive comments caused him to back off multiple shots. Shane Lowry, McIlroy's four-ball partner, also had to be held back by his caddie at one point.
"I wish they had of let the dogs off the leashes," he joked after being asked about the extra security presence that was brought out on day two.
"The police out there and the amount of security presence was insane.
"Look, nothing was going to happen. There wasn't going to be physical altercation or anything like that apart from maybe Tommy and Rosey up to the 16th tee yesterday.
"There was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behavior. It's a minority of the crowd. It's not the majority.
"The majority of people here are true golf fans and are respectful and let both teams have the same chance to hit the shots and play a fair contest.
"But you know, there was a small subset of people that behaved a little bit differently than that."
