The European team were expecting abuse from the people paying to attend this Ryder Cup, but not from the people the Ryder Cup are paying to entertain them while they are here. In a dismal start to what turned into one of the most rancorous day’s play in the history of the competition, the female master of ceremonies employed to inject some life into the crowd at the 1st tee was recorded using a megaphone to lead a chant of “Fuck you Rory!” before Saturday morning’s foursomes. The PGA of America, which is organising the tournament, was approached for comment but remained oddly silent until late on Saturday evening when they issued an apology and announced that the MC, Heather McMahan, would stand down from Sunday’s proceedings.
The incident set the tone for everything that happened after. The words became a recurring chant, and by the end of the day the atmosphere around his fourball with Shane Lowry against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young had become so foul that the PGA of America had brought in a squad of state police to try to restore order.
