Golf chief "can't wait" to reach out to Rory McIlroy and Erica over Ryder Cup abuse

The chief executive of the PGA of America has promised to send Rory McIlroy and his wife Erica a full apology over what transpired at the 2025 Ryder Cup. 

McIlroy was the primary target last week at Bethpage Black in New York. 

After a relatively tame first day, the abuse erupted on Saturday and the reigning Masters champion was on the receiving end of some horrific personal abuse from a few spectators. 

GolfMagic followed McIlroy inside the ropes for three days and this is what we saw. 

McIlroy was taunted over rumours about his private life whilst his wife Erica also had a beer thrown over her after his match with Shane Lowry against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young concluded. 

The 36-year-old five-time major champ condemned the abuse minutes after Europe lifted the trophy after an exhilarating final day that saw Luke Donald's dozen win by the skin of their teeth. 

Derek Sprague, the chief executive of the PGA of America, has told Golf Channel he plans to send McIlroy, Erica and the rest of the European team a full apology. 

He has already spoken to Paul McGinley, Sprague said. 

His comments are at complete odds with the PGA's president, Don Rea, who claimed he wasn't aware of the abuse. Rea also said the US side were essentially subjected to the same abuse two years ago in Italy. 

Rea has since doubled down on his comments with a post on his personal LinkedIn account. 

Sprague said: "I talked a little to Paul McGinley last night. I haven't spoken to Rory or Erica; I do plan on sending them an e-mail with my heartfelt apologies because of what occurred.

"There's no place for that in the Ryder Cup or the game of golf. I heard Rory say it, we're better than that in golf. 

"That's one thing our game has always portrayed when you compare us to other sports is that golf is a great game and people enjoy the game because of the values that golf has.

"I can’t wait to reach out to Rory and Erica, and really the entire European team. Rory might have been a target because of how good he is, but the entire European team should not have been subjected to that.

"I feel badly, and I plan on apologising to them."

Sprague said he was not happy with what he saw. But he pointed out the hecklers were dealt with relatively quickly. 

"We reacted to fan behaviour, including removing a number of fans from the event or moving them away from players they were abusing," Sprague added. 

"We dealt with it swiftly and efficiently as it was made known to us.

"Certainly, it's not the values of the PGA of America or our 30,000 PGA golf professionals who work every day in this game to bring joy and laughter and fun to golf.

"Certainly, we did not witness that, there's no place for that at the Ryder Cup, no place for it in the game of golf and we are not happy with what happened last week."

Rae's comments were also criticised by Europe's Matthew Fitzpatrick. 

Fitzpatrick, who said he was targeted by US fans for having braces and wearing Skechers, said Rea clearly wasn't in Rome two years ago. 

Tyrrell Hatton, meanwhile, also had a few things to say about Keegan Bradley's assessment of the crowd.