[PHOTO: Carl Recine]
To the surprise of no one, much of the European victory press conference in New York on Sunday night at the Ryder Cup revolved around the fan abuse the players received at Bethpage Black. Rory McIlroy was clearly the American fans’ No.1 target, and, unfortunately, his wife Erica was caught in the crosshairs, too.
This was most evident in the video of Erica being hit in the head with a drink on Saturday evening after her husband’s fourball match. According to many on the grounds, and according to one of McIlroy’s partners this week, Shane Lowry, that was the least of it.
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“I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing,” Lowry said when the matches were complete.
“The way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable, and kudos to her for that.”
Lowry’s defence received a round of applause from the entire European squad, and some other players rallied around her as well. Justin Rose hadn’t heard about her being hit with a drink until someone asked Rory about it during the press conference.
Rose highlighted the fact that Erica never even mentioned the incident.
“Can I just pick up on that, if you don’t mind, because I actually had no idea that Erica had a beer thrown at her yesterday, so fair play to Erica,” Rose said. “She didn’t bring that to the team room. We didn’t make that a big deal. That’s news to me. That says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody on this team.”
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Rory McIlroy added that fan abuse of family members should be off limits but it wasn’t this week. He then praised his wife’s strength throughout the whole experience.
“Erica is fine. She’s a very, very strong woman,” Rory said. “You know, she handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
