When asked what he thought of the fans abusing Rory McIlroy & Co. at Bethpage, Keegan Bradley said, “I thought the fans were passionate. I mean, their home team is getting beat bad. They are passionate fans. I wasn’t at Rome, but I heard a lot of stories that Rome was pretty violent as well.”

The Team U.S. captain’s brushing off of the situation, coupled with the fact that he wasn’t even there in Rome to compare it, didn’t sit well with Tyrrell Hatton. And he shared his two cents regarding it.

In a press conference before the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the Englishman was asked what he thought of the Team U.S. captain’s views. Hatton told the reporter, “Personally, I don’t think they were close at all. I certainly, with what I heard last week, I don’t think Rome comes anywhere near that. To be honest, personally, I don’t agree with what they both said there. I don’t know what else to add to that. I think they are quite far apart, to be honest.”

Apart from Keegan, even the PGA of America President, Don Rea, also had something similar to say about the crowd in Rome. When he was asked about the abuse McIlroy faced in New York, Rea told the reporter, “I haven’t heard some of that. I’m sure it has happened. It has happened when we were over in Rome on the other side. Rory understands; I thought he handled the press conferences thing amazingly.”

Indeed, the away team usually faces a lot of heat from the spectators attending the Ryder Cup. But even the American pros weren’t treated so badly that they feared for the safety of their partners. McIlroy’s strong reaction towards the crowd might have been justified in this case, especially after one of them was caught hurling a cup of beer at Erica Stoll. He and Shane Lowry faced a lot of abuse, distractions, and unfair treatment. Even the first tee staffer, Heather McMahan, was also heard screaming “F— you Rory!” into a microphone to lead a chant among the fans before the beginning of the second day. She was naturally forced to step down from her role.

Either way, the point is that at no point were things as bad for the American pros in Rome. For Bradley & Rea to compare the embarrassing situation at Bethpage to anything that happened in Rome seemed like a preposterous idea for Tyrrell Hatton. Thankfully, not everyone sees it that way.

Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, & Team Europe get support against Keegan Bradley’s claims

The netizens were already infuriated with the kind of reception Team Europe received at Bethpage. Among them were a few recognized in the golf community as experts & legends. One of them was Tom Watson, who was embarrassed by the way the New York fans behaved at Bethpage. He tweeted, “I’d like to apologize for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage. As a former player, Captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened. #RyderCup.”

Having represented Team U.S. eight times as a player and a captain, Watson knows what it’s like to play in an away Ryder Cup. But he had never seen a crowd this rowdy in the decades of golf he had followed. Even Brandel Chamblee stood in support of McIlroy as he stated, “You’re going to watch the best players in the world, and they start a profane, insulting chant. Rory McIlroy, all he does is handle this insult in class.

Although the Irishman did retort with his strokeplay, he also threw back some insults of his own after he played well. That’s probably the only way he could have responded to the out-of-control fans at Bethpage. Even then, Rory McIlroy had himself admitted that there were only a few out of the thousands in attendance who were actually unruly. But even the small number of fans was able to cause enough chaos to make the headlines and turn the event into one of the worst editions in history.