If 1999 Brookline was bad, a foresight said Bethpage Black was going to cross some lines. It’s the New Yorkers. They have got a reputation for being intense that even Cameron Young – a native to the area – vouches for. Add to that the scale and passion that have carried over by the year, and you get the 2025 Ryder Cup crowd.

The American galleries gave quite a welcome to the opponents as the three-day event kicked off on Friday. There was verbal abuse, heckling, and lots of it. Rory McIlroy at one point, even refused to putt until the crowd quieted. Keegan Bradley’s post-round comments, though, revealed a striking disconnect from reality.

“Oh, I mean, we’ve got passionate fans out here,” he told reporters near the 18th green. “Their fans are loud, too. You can hear them right now. It’s an honor to play in front of the New York fans.” 

People of New York love their sports. But ironically enough, they have been starved of wins by their teams for years. Their basketball team hasn’t come close to sniffing a ring in decades while Giants and Jets are already touted to have a bad season. If anything, Yankees and Mets carry the hopes, but only ever so little. You can guess where the energy was channelled come Ryder Cup. 

With about two days to the event, the fans had taken up gallery spaces, interacting and encouraging their home team during practice rounds. It was enough to fill the players up with confidence about their home court advantage. Collin Morikawa, for one, even expressed excitement over the chaos that would soon fill Bethpage Black. He’d say, “I think it feeds into who we are … we want it. Like, we want to use that to our advantage.”

So Bradley wasn’t wrong in relishing the fans’ passion and emphasizing the New Yorkers’ intensity. Moreover, historically, the Ryder Cup has been a tough bearing for away teams. Davis Love III once recalled the name-calling and rattling tactics, like playing slow, that the Europeans used back in 1993. So when the celebrations blew over in 1999 in Brooklyn, where fans had rushed the green even before the final putt, Love hadn’t paid much heed to the criticism. 

“For them to say it all of a sudden happened on Sunday, or it all of a sudden happened this week … it didn’t just start,” he had reverted, discussing the complaints. Fun little fact, Bradley was among the audience during those controversial celebrations. He says that’s really when he started dreaming of making it as a golfer. It doesn’t come as a surprise now that home crowd enthusiasm is etched too close to the captain. But what the first two days brought over is anything but healthy. 

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry became primary targets throughout Saturday’s matches. While McIlroy declared, “I’m not putting until they shut up,” Lowry reached his breaking point on the 12th hole, lunging toward a heckler before his caddie restrained him. 

Bradley’s defense became even more problematic considering the personal attacks. Fans hurled body-shaming comments at Lowry and made inappropriate remarks about McIlroy’s family. Security personnel were eventually forced to eject multiple spectators. 

The golfers are good sports when it comes to raking in fans’ response; love, heat, or criticism. McIlroy says that is what Ryder Cup is about. Justin Rose, and Ludvig Åberg had even geared themselves up for the hostile environment. USA Today reported that they practiced with virtual-reality headsets to adjust to the possible scenarios. But evidently, the opening day turned out so bad, it had American players step up to the crowd.

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Ryder Cup crowd controversies force Scottie Scheffler to step up

This latest controversy is part of a troubling pattern in golf’s premier team competition. Bethpage Black has earned its reputation as golf’s most hostile environment, with observers consistently warning about the intensity European players would face.

The 1999 Brookline precedent loomed large over Saturday’s events. That tournament saw European players subjected to systematic harassment and the infamous green invasion. The recent Phoenix Open chaos offered another parallel, resulting in 54 arrests and 211 ejections in 2024.

Saturday’s scenes surpassed even those controversial moments. Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas spent their afternoon managing crowds that had crossed every line of acceptable behavior. The former was caught on video making shushing gestures to quiet American supporters. Social media captured the embarrassing moment, with Kyle Stuck posting on X: “Scottie having to ssshhh the crowd, there is not a good look #RyderCup.”

Thomas faced an even more uncomfortable situation on the 6th hole. He repeatedly raised his hands and gestured for silence as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry endured persistent harassment. Bob Harig documented the severity, writing on X: “Looks like some poor fan behavior has crossed the line more than once, causing Justin Thomas to intervene on the sixth hole. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are the subjects of the abuse.”

The PGA of America responded by deploying significant additional security, including New York State Police, around all matches. Law enforcement presence significantly increased, with more than 30 officers visibly surrounding sure matches and including agencies such as the NYPD and Secret Service.