Being a tranquil game, golf has always prided itself on sportsmanship. But the Ryder Cup is not the same. National pride is on the line when the best golfers from the USA and Europe face each other at the biennial event. This pride and intensity call for emotions and chaos that no other golf tournament can match. But sometimes, that chaos can go to the next level, and the 2025 Ryder Cup was an attestation of that.

Rory McIlroy and some European team members faced intense, hostile fan behavior from some U.S. spectators. Patrick Reed, who has faced somewhat similar behavior from the media, sympathizes with McIlroy over what went down at Bethpage Black in New York.

The 9x PGA Tour winner was in a conversation with Bunkered.co.uk. “The way I heard the fans acted in New York was uncalled for. It’s embarrassing as an American. I mean, you don’t do that. You don’t act the way you did, say the things you say. Stuff like that that needs to be looked at, needs to be checked. It’s supposed to be a gentleman’s game, and you go out there and some of the things that people say, it’s just appalling,” Patrick Reed said when discussing all the heckles of the 2025 Ryder Cup.

Since McIlroy was the face of the European team, he had to face the worst fan behavior. The heckling and personal insults started right before he even took the tee shot. Spectators heard the first-tee MC encourage chants of “F*** you, Rory.” And if that was not enough, fans wouldn’t let the World No. 2 make his strokes. Right when he would take a stance and prepare to hit a stroke, fans would shout to break his concentration. To top it all, a fan even threw a beer can at McIlroy, which hit his wife, Erica Stoll.

When asked about all the heckling after the Ryder Cup, McIlroy said that it was unacceptable. “I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week. Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people. Sometimes this week we didn’t see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup,” he said.

While McIlroy was the prime target, many others faced heckles and abuse, too. For instance, some fans targeted Robert MacIntyre for his physique. After the Ryder Cup, the Scottish golfer shared an Instagram post, which included text overlay of heckles he faced, including, “Eat another burger Bobby?,” “Milk bottle,” “Bobby Mac & Cheese,” and “When you starting Ozempic?” The fan abuse also affected other players, such as Shane Lowry. Lowry even had to confront spectators who crossed the line. The PGA of America responded by increasing security and ejecting unruly fans during the event.

Patrick Reed sympathizes with the European team members and feels ashamed of their behavior. He joins a list of many other American golfers who said fan behavior was inappropriate. Two-time US Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson also feels like Reed. “As a former player, Captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened,” Watson said about fan behavior. The 2025 Baycurrent Classic winner, Xander Schauffele, also acknowledged that some fans made “unsavory comments” during the competition.

Justin Thomas had also expressed his disappointment after that incident, as he said, “There was definitely some nasty things said…Cam and I said it to Shane and Rory yesterday that we felt for them. It was unfortunate.”

Patrick Reed certainly understands the chaos at a Ryder Cup event. He himself was part of the American team in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 Ryder Cups. But besides the Ryder Cup, Reed also faces such heckles and abuse from the media. The 2021 Farmers Insurance Open champion says that the media has painted him as a villain.

Patrick Reed is painted as a villain

Controversy has surrounded Patrick Reed’s career since his college days, when people accused him of cheating, stealing, and underage drinking. Reed has said that while he had a drinking problem, accusations of cheating and stealing are wrong. These accusations arose because, during a match in his college days, items like a watch and a putter were missing from the locker room.

Reed’s professional career has seen ups and downs. Once celebrated as “Captain America” for his fiery passion during the 2016 Ryder Cup, Reed’s image since then has changed dramatically. It includes a notable Ryder Cup moment in 2018, where teammate Jordan Spieth asked the captain to pair with another player. This cast a shadow over Patrick Reed.

His decision to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League in 2022 made things worse, making him one of the most polarizing figures in the sport.

He even filed an unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against Golf Channel and analyst Brandel Chamblee for painting him negatively. Recently, Patrick Reed shared that his kids had also faced bullying because of his image in the media.

Patrick Reed’s words reflect a rare show of empathy across the often-heated Ryder Cup divide. His stance, echoed by other American players, reinforces that golf’s true spirit lies in dignity.