The two Saturday sessions of the Ryder Cup saw some world-class golf as the Europeans asserted their dominance to win both the foursomes and four-balls 3-1.
That left the visitors on the cusp of victory, with Rory McIlroy playing a pivotal role in Team Europe’s brilliance on Saturday, winning both his matches.
McIlroy’s performance was even more impressive considering the abuse he faced throughout the day.
It started even before his first shot, when Ryder Cup MC Heather McMahan encouraged a chant of “**** you Rory” at the first tee before his morning foursomes match.
During the match, he reacted to fans at the 16th, telling the crowd to “shut the **** up” on his way to a 3&2 win alongside Tommy Fleetwood.
There was another incident in his afternoon four-ball match where partner Shane Lowry was held back by caddie Darren Reynolds over a crowd dispute. In the end, security had to be increased amid the fan disorder to prevent further incidents.
Reports on the ground at Bethpage Black underlined the severity of the abuse, with the Daily Mail’s chief sports writer Oliver Holt describing the vitriol aimed at McIlroy as “vicious,” with a “personal, thuggish edge to it.”
Now, a clip has emerged further highlighting what McIlroy had to endure on Saturday. It shows a drink being thrown from the crowd towards McIlroy and his wife Erica during the four-ball session.
The footage shows the couple’s reaction to the incident, with Erica turning around with a look of horror and McIlroy looking back towards the crowd. He is then joined by Lowry before the players and Erica depart the scene.
Considering the incident, it is perhaps remarkable that McIlroy opted against mentioning it following his and Lowry’s 2 up win over Justin Thomas and Cameron Young.
Instead, McIlroy chose to focus on the win, saying: “We're just so happy that we could get a blue point on the board.”
Following his foursomes win earlier in the day, McIlroy did reference the antics of the crowd, saying: “I don't mind them having a go at us. 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 let us - you gave us the respect to let us hit shots, and give us the same chance that the Americans have, I guess.”
After Saturday’s play, US captain Keegan Bradley drew criticism for failing to fully condemn the behavior of the fans.
He said: “I didn't see - I mean, I thought the fans were passionate. I mean, their home team is getting beat bad. You know, they are passionate fans.
“I wasn't at Rome, but I heard a lot of stories that Rome was pretty violent as well. But the fans of New York from what I have seen have been pretty good.
“You're always going to have a few people that cross the line, and that's unfortunate.
“I was happy to see our players trying to quiet down some people that were like that. Part of it our fault. We are not playing up to the standards that they want to see, and they are angry, and they should be.”
