As many on the grounds reported, Rory McIlroy (and Shane Lowry, too) caught a ton of abuse from the New York crowd during Saturday afternoon’s fourball session at the 2025 Ryder Cup. It was so ugly that McIlroy was well within his rights to take the American fans to task after he and Lowry disposed of Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, 2 up, to secure the first point of the session.
McIlroy did anything but.
Speaking with Sky Sports behind the 18th green, a physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted McIlroy showered praise on his partner Lowry, who he said was “there for him all day.”
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“I’m drained, to say the least,” said McIlroy. “I chipped in when I had to, but the credit goes to this man today.”
Later in the interview, McIlroy was asked if the crowds took it too far. His response was a smartly diplomatic one.
“When you play in an away Ryder Cup, it’s really, really challenging,” he said. “It’s not for me to say. People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”
Lowry added that the atmosphere in their group was intense and like “something he’d never experienced,” recalling the chaos with a big smile on his face.
“This is what I live for,” said Lowry. “This is it, this is the reason I get up in the morning, for stuff like this.”
In addition to out-scheming and out-preparing the U.S. team, Luke Donald also has his European side doing something equally important – not taking the bait.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
