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The comedian employed to warm up the crowd at the Ryder Cup has apologised and stepped down from her job before the final day’s play after she was recorded leading a foul-mouthed Rory McIlroy chant on the first tee on Saturday.
Heather McMahan apologised to McIlroy and Ryder Cup Europe for the remarks. It took the PGA of America 20 hours to address the incident, which happened before dawn on Saturday, which invited questions about whether it was quick enough to act.
McMahan had been employed to stoke up the crowd on the first tee in an attempt to build the atmosphere, and was using a megaphone to lead them in their chants. She tried to persuade them to join her in a chorus of “Scottie! Scottie! Scheffler!” to the tune of Queen’s We Will Rock You but was booed into abandoning the effort. “Fuck you Rory!” was more popular, and became a persistent chant throughout the day. McIlroy responded by blowing the crowd kisses when he came to the tee.
It set the tone of an ugly day at Bethpage, when the atmosphere around McIlroy in particular became so toxic that the PGA of America brought in squads of state police and park police to walk the course with his group midway through their round. Several spectators were evicted.
McIlroy was repeatedly targeted with personal abuse and grew so exasperated with people shouting out during his backswing that at one point he turned around and told the crowd to “shut the fuck up”. The PGA of America repeatedly posted spectator etiquette warnings on the screens around the grounds. They were widely booed every time they appeared.
McIlroy described the atmosphere as “very, very challenging”. He won both matches regardless.
“I don’t mind them having a go at us,” McIlroy said. “Like that’s to be expected. I mean, that’s what an away Ryder Cup is. Whenever they are still doing it while you are over the ball and trying to hit your shot, that’s the tough thing. You know, look, in between shots, say whatever you want to me. That’s totally fine. But just give us the respect to let us hit shots.”
