They may be rivals at Bethpage, but they are still friends. Even though Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas are playing on opposite sides, they still share mutual respect and back each other during tense moments. So when things got out of hand between the American spectators and the European pro, Thomas didn’t shy away from getting involved to smooth things down.

Lowry faced a lot of heat as he and Rory McIlroy faced off against Thomas and Cameron Young. Fans taunted him in various ways, calling him various names like “Teletubby.” They were also throwing insults towards the European duo all the way throughout their Fourball match on Saturday. At one point, things got so bad that Lowry retaliated with a loud “F*** off” in the general direction of the crowd. After looking at his mate’s reaction, Thomas thought this was a good time to get involved.

He tried to calm the crowd down and asked them to behave cordially during the sixth hole. However, that didn’t help much as they continued to abuse the European pair. Eventually, Lowry did get some of the fans thrown out of the Ryder Cup course for crossing the line. The same was confirmed by Flushing It as they tweeted, “Sky Sports just reporting that the New York fans are getting nasty and a few have been ejected.”

Having said that, the strong negative reactions and heckling must not have surprised the European pros. Most of them have experienced that during their last Ryder Cup appearance in the United States. Let’s look at some of the incidents in the past that also made the headlines.

Have Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, & Co. been heckled on American soil before?

Ryder Cup veterans from Europe often warn the young blood to prepare for the mental challenges they might face when visiting the United States. Playing away means the home team fans will try their best to rile the players up. Rory McIlroy & Sergio Garcia experienced the worst of it in 2016. Tired of the crude comments from the fans at Hazeltine, they requested the officials to get them thrown out to maintain peace on the course.

The infamous course invasion of The Battle of Brookline in 1999 is still one of the most shocking incidents in Ryder Cup history. Apart from all the heckling, fans literally destroyed the green before Jose Maria Olazabal was about to putt that could have possibly saved the tournament for Team Europe. Had the Spanish legend sunk the ball, then the American side wouldn’t have won the event that year. Acting as the vice captain to Luke Donald this year, Olazabal must have been the one to recommend the use of VR headsets to desensitize the squad against the abuse they might face in New York.