The crowd’s rude behavior during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black is no news to golf enthusiasts anymore. From the chants of “f*** you, Rory” to taking jabs at Robert MacIntyre’s physique, almost every European team member faced hateful comments. While heckling at a Ryder Cup event is nothing new, the crowd took it to a whole new level this year. It even forced the European Ryder Cup stars to engage in banter with the fans.

Looking at the chaos, some media agencies reported Team Europe was preparing to halt the Ryder Cup, but that’s not what Edoardo Molinari says. Team Europe’s vice captain, Edoardo Molinari, recently appeared on the Fried Egg Golf podcast hosted by Joseph LaMagna. While discussing the crowd’s behavior, LaMagna asked, “The Telegraph reported that Europe was prepared to halt play if some of the crowd behavior did not stop. Is that true?”

In an article covering Rory McIlroy and his wife, Erica, who faced vile treatment, and the apology they received afterward, The Telegraph reported that Team Europe was prepared to stop playing because of fans’ behavior. This could have come because of the intensity of heckling.

“No, no, no. That was never discussed. It was never talked about. That’s uh, no, that’s not true at all,” said Edoardo Molinari on the Fried Egg Golf podcast. Molinari confirmed that not playing the Ryder Cup was out of the question. However, the team discussed not engaging with the fans and irritating them more than they already were. The crowd’s irritation was natural considering the humiliating performance of the American team members. Team America did pull a historic singles day to try to catch up to Team Europe, but the gap from the first 2 days was simply enormous.

At the end of day 1, Europe led with 5 1/2 – 2 1/2 and then increased the lead to 11 1/2 – 4 1/2 points before heading to the singles games. As the Europeans were gaining points match after match on the first two days, fans in New York were riling up. So, the decision not to irritate them more was ideal. But in the end, some Team Europe members did react to the comments, and it couldn’t have been helped.

Reflecting on the same, Molinari said, “I thought we did a great job for a day and a half, and then when you’re exposed to that for like 12 hours a day, eventually it gets to you, and obviously some players reacted. But I think that’s just normal human being. Like it would have been impossible to, you know, for anyone not to react for three straight days to what was going on.”

Several golfers had to respond because of the sheer number of comments passed at them. For instance, a rendition of “f*** you, Rory” started right away at the tee time and was led by the MC, Heather McMahan. Rory had to respond to a heckler and say, “Shut the f*** up.” McIlroy said that he had to do this because some fans were shouting right when he was playing the shot. The 29x PGA Tour winner was okay with heckles between shots, but when playing a shot, it’s a different story, as he has to concentrate.

Shane Lowry was also outraged with fans for the personal comments they made about his weight. After holing a putt, he shouted, “f*ck you, f*ck you” at fans. In one incident, Shane even almost walked towards a heckler before his caddie stopped him. Ultimately, he asked the security to have the fan thrown out of the premises.

Edoardo Molinari has played a key role in helping Team Europe win the Ryder Cup. While praises are showered on captain Luke Donald, his vice captain can be called the ace.

Edoardo Molinari’s analysis powered Team Europe’s victory

Molinari is the mastermind behind the curtains who has been using data to design pairings and strategies for the biennial event. When one looks at Team Europe’s pairings for the Ryder Cup, some feel obvious while others raise eyebrows. For instance, golf’s blunt instrument, Bryson DeChambeau, was paired against the quiet Matt Fitzpatrick.

The 3x DP World Tour winner builds match models using data and not just his gut feelings. The results at the 2025 Ryder Cup spoke volumes about the impact of these data-driven insights.

Edoardo Molinari doesn’t just use data for the Ryder Cup. He, in fact, developed the Arcoss platform and is now working with many professional golfers and providing them with analytical support. Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Nelly Korda, and Adam Scott are some popular names he is working with.

The biennial event will return to Ireland in 2027 after The K Club hosted it in 2006. It will be interesting to see whether Edoardo returns as Team Europe’s vice captain or steps up as captain and applies his data-driven approach once again.