Controversial Ryder Cup announcer breaks silence over offensive Rory McIlroy chant

Heather McMahan has explained her side of the story over what transpired last week at Bethpage Black in New York.

Updated: 02 Oct 2025

The first tee announcer has explained her side of the story over what transpired during last week's Ryder Cup.

Heather McMahan was hired by the PGA of America to rev up up the crowd at Bethpage Black as Keegan Bradley's United States clashed with Luke Donald's Europe.

Donald secured his status as a bona fide European legend of the matches as his dozen became the first to win on away soil since 2012.

But for McMahan it was a forgettable experience that even saw her resign from her position early after she was overheard repeating an expletive-laden chant about Rory McIlroy.

McMahan explained on her podcast she was told to try and up the ante on Saturday morning as Team USA were losing heavily.

NEWS — The PGA of America’s 1st tee emcee, Heather McMahan has stepped down from her job after leading a “F—you Rory!” chant on Saturday. McMahan has reportedly apologized to Rory McIlroy.

(Details via @laz_versalles & @JoshACarpenter) pic.twitter.com/8qqYIgkJ6e
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) September 28, 2025

"We need to get everybody hyped," she said.

"Team America's coming out. [They said] we need to be so outta control, so full throttle in cheers and chants and get everybody to truly pump up the team and get the energy going."

She said she tried to get the crowd to sing positive chants, but that was met with boos.

"These guys don't want anything to do with it," she said. "They're, like, 'This is New York; we want to get rowdy.'

"And that's the way it went. The crowd started to get really fratty, really intense, really quick.

"And I don't want to speak for everybody in the crowd … there were so many wonderful people there that were being lovely."

McMahan said she made a "terrible decision" by joining in for one "F--- you, Rory" chant. A member of the European team walked over to her and told her she had crossed the line, she added.

"I made the absolute horrible mistake of saying it back to them once. And if you watch the video, I'm kind of like laughing to myself, like, 'F--- you, Rory?'

"I'm just, like, what? And the media took that, spun it and said that I had started all of these chants.

"I would just like to say … I did not like the energy and the vibe from when that started to happen.

"I will take full responsibility and sincerely apologize to Rory, Team Europe, for saying that. It was so foolish of me.

"I did not start the chant. I would just like that narrative to get out there. I did not start it.

"But, anyway, that I had participated in that, even just saying it once was so foolish and silly of me, and as soon as it came out and they started chanting, I was just like, ugh, the energy just shifted.

"It went from us trying to be fun and funny and like get it going to immediately just was negative and felt really kind of toxic.

"So as soon as I said that, I was like, 'Ugh, I don't want any part of this. Like this is just getting weird and I don't know how to control this crowd of 4,000 dudes at five o'clock in the morning, shouting crazy s---.'

"So as soon as that happened, I immediately turned to my producer. I was like, let's just get the DJ to play music. I don't know what to do with this audience right now. So I'm not gonna participate."

She added: "Somebody from the European tour came over and he was, like, 'Listen, it's one thing if you guys cuss, we've said that's fine.

"You can say like, let's f------ go. But nothing directed towards a player. We were, like, 'heard, understood, Roger that, you got it.'

"I will do the best I can to shift the energy fully on the same page. I'll get out the T-shirt cannon, I'll be shooting out free s--- into the audience and hope that that keeps 'em happy.

"But I was honestly, like, I've been hired as a comedian and I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to do. I was feeling it out as I went, but I'm, like, am I a cheerleader?

"I probably would've been better off just like taking my top off at this point. That's how fratty the energy felt and I'm like, this is kind of insane, and I don't really know what I'm expected to do here."

McMahan also belies the media span what truly happened.

She said: "I have to say something, a lot of these articles, a) didn't have the facts straight and b) explained it as potty mouth, foul-mouthed woman from America.

"First, you would never call a male comic potty-mouthed or foul-mouthed. So that' strike one - I'm a woman.

"But also, like, is this the Salem witch hunt trials - you're telling me I had so much power over a group of men?

"You're telling me that I have that much power that I then told them to go out the rest of the day, continue to drink til they're absolutely in a stupor and say horrible things to professional athletes?

"What? That's where I had to draw the line and be, like, hey, that makes no sense to me.

They have someone MCing the first tee trying to lead chants and it is not working /resulting in boos. A De-Cham-beau led chant lasted couple beats before turning into a “F U Rory” which also came over the mic. pic.twitter.com/rxewFa9cAj
— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) September 27, 2025

"I'm happy to roll up my sleeves and have fun and get like everybody pumped up. But it just wasn't feasible in the setting that we were in.

"It wasn't feasible in front of this crowd. We should have just had the DJ, maybe brought cheerleaders out just to like shake it and get the boys, like seeing what they want. … What I could offer was just not what the first team needed."

McMahan joked that, by means of an extending an olive branch to the people of Ireland, she would happily get dunked in tank full of Guinness.

Alternatively, she would also be happy for people to lob soft clumps of Kerry Golf butter at her as she walked through the street.

"I'm happy to do it for a way to make us giggle," she said.

"We can look back on this and all think we made it through the other side."