You know the golf’s probably got a little out of hand when the police are called. Men with hats and guns emerged through the trees to the fourth green like they were quashing an insurgency. Suffolk County Police, NYPD and Secret Service officers descended on match two – Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young – as this simmering Ryder Cup finally boiled over.
No country in the world does obnoxious golf fans quite like America, and no country in the world does sincerely troubling security presence like America either. It was a heady mix which turned the match into a travelling bear pit, with every passage to the next tee like a tunnel of rage directed at the Europeans, who had to be chaperoned through the chaos.
It conjured memories of a similar moment in Rome two years ago when hat-gate spread across Marco Simone Golf Club and the European crowd ignited. Saturday afternoon is when it happens, when all the necessary ingredients are in place, when the sun beats down and frustrations niggle and beer takes fans to unholy places they would never ordinarily visit.
It turned dark and it turned ugly. Spectators heckled McIlroy as he stood over a putt, and when he stepped away the baying grew louder. Insults about Lowry’s body and McIlroy’s personal life – his wife was travelling with the group on a buggy – drew furious reactions from the players and from Lowry’s father, Brendan. At one point it seemed like Lowry might leap over the ropes and deal with them himself, before police began encircling each green.
Some of the comments were darker and more sinister than the tone of this Ryder Cup so far. Thomas was also angry and urged his own supporters to be quiet, having to calm them on every single green from thereon in. But it didn’t help that he was naturally America’s hype merchant too, cupping his ear every time he made a putt and saved a crucial half.
The US had been beaten up all week and the scoreboard was mostly blue. By the back nine this was the only match still all square and both captains were walking as part of a growing entourage of allies and curious onlookers. One of them was Europe’s Bob MacIntyre, who copped a few light-hearted comments about being sunburnt. The New York heat will do that to a man from Oban.
Each green was more raucous than the last, so that by the time they reached the par-three 14th hole, it was mayhem. There was no chance McIlroy or Lowry were going to hit a shot in silence, as golf etiquette dictates and as had been the case for the rest of this Ryder Cup. Once a player stands over their ball, the crowd fall quiet. Well, not here.
It had been a tense, bruising fight when McIlroy drained his birdie putt on 14 and launched into enthusiastic celebrations. When Thomas’s reply burnt the edge of the cup and rolled by, sending Europe 1UP, McIlroy turned to the crowd once more and pumped his arms. America had poked the bear.
The story was all quite predictable as soon as the fourball lineups were announced at midday here at Bethpage. McIlroy and Lowry are tight friends and are unashamedly Europe’s hotheads, who were memorably at the centre of the rumble in the car park two years ago. Thomas is America’s most passionate patriot, the chest-thumping fan favourite who relishes the battle. Throw in Young, a New Yorker who has probably been America’s best player here, and this match was bound to set off.
Young receded into his shell, but the other three players thrived. Thomas took the match all the way, hitting a stunning tee shot onto the high 17th green, where a natural amphitheatre made for the most intense atmosphere on the course with thousands wrapped around all sides. His ball rolled perilously close to a hole in one and the home fans nearly combusted. But Lowry ignored their cat-calls to sink his birdie putt and preserve Europe’s 1UP lead.
Knowing Europe couldn’t now lose the match, McIlroy turned around to the rowdiest group of fans and let rip with a volley of F-yous, which felt fair enough in the circumstances. He had spoken this week about how he engaged too much with the American crowd at Hazeltine in 2016 and not enough at Whistling Straits in 2021 when stoicism inhibited his game. Here at Bethpage he has struck a balance, using their words as fuel to play masterfully while unafraid to let out his emotions when the moment takes him.
Neither Thomas nor Young could find the 18th green, nor a miraculous chip in, and they offered their hands.
“It was intense, like something I’ve never experienced,” Lowry said. “But this is what I live for. This is the reason I get up in the morning, for stuff like this.”
McIlroy added: “People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”
Elsewhere, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose had just beaten America’s alpha pairing of Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler. JJ Spaun and Xander Schauffele won a US point against Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka, but Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick beat Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay in the final match to hand Europe a towering 11½-4½ lead going into the singles. It is Europe’s highest ever score after two days, and they need only two and a half points from Sunday’s 12 matches to retain the Ryder Cup.
As McIlroy swirled his putter in the air in celebration on the 18th green and Lowry punched the air, two fans were being hauled out of the grandstand by police for fighting. It was a fitting end to a day of bedlam at Bethpage.
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