[Photo: Golf Digest US]
If you told us two weeks ago the most lasting American storyline from the 2025 Ryder Cup would be fan behaviour, then we would have said something went terribly wrong. As it turns out, it did.
RELATED: US billionaire had Tom Fazio build a $76 million private golf course for his family
The US was boat raced at Bethpage Black by largely the same team that embarrassed them in Rome in 2023. In the fallout from the loss, fan decorum—perhaps as a means of deflecting attention from the poor performance—took centerstage. Throughout the weekend, American fans pushed, and often exceeded, the boundaries of acceptable etiquette. First-tee MC Heather McMahan resigned after leading a “F—k you, Rory!” chant on Saturday, McIlory’s wife, Erica Stoll, was struck by a flying drink on Sunday and PGA of America president Don Rea came under fire for his laissez-faire reaction to the, ahem, “chaos.” Or at least that’s what Collin Morikawa called it.
In the build-up to the biannual event, the three-time US Ryder Cupper called for “absolute chaos” in an effort to rally fans to the American cause. When asked about those comments and the effect they may have had on Ryder Cup fans on Wednesday at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan, Morikawa had this to say.
"I don't think I have the power to do that."
Before the Ryder Cup, Collin Morikawa called for "chaos" from the fans. He says he had no intention for them to be "rude" to the European team. pic.twitter.com/DdJ0557BSN
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) October 8, 2025
RELATED: Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston set to kick off DP World Tour return from Australia
“I think we’ve taken what I said a little out of context. I think Ryder Cups are meant to have a lot of energy, right, and I think me saying the word ‘chaos,’ I didn’t mean for them to be rude, right? So, like that’s not on me, I believe for me to take credit for people being rude,” Morikawa said. “I think what I meant was like I wanted energy, right? You wanted people to be proud of the country, the countries they’re rooting for. So I don’t think, you know, me saying one word, everyone listened and then — I don’t think I have the power to do that amongst people.”
Morikawa is right about a few important things, mainly that the behaviour of fellow adults—especially total strangers—is not his responsibility. Every adult’s conduct and emotions are their own responsibility to manage, and some of the individuals in the crowd on Saturday and Sunday let themselves down. Morikawa was become something of a lightning rod over the course of the past 12 months, and we’ve seen him deflect blame on several occasions, but he’s right when he says this is not his cross to bear.
He is wrong about his quotes being taken out of context, however. Morikawa called for “absolute chaos” and absolute chaos is what he got. If Morikawa told you to jump off a bridge—to borrow a well-worn phrase from my mother—you still shouldn’t do it, but it’s not the fault of reporters for taking his comments “out of context,” as he implies. The problem is his choice of words. Morikawa explained that he meant “energy” instead anarchy, but he didn’t call for “energy,” he called for chaos. When you speak broadly, you open yourself up to a broad array of reactions, and that’s precisely what we saw at Bethpage. Morikawa needs to own that and show some contrition.
In the end, that’s what fans will object to most. Morikawa’s not fundamentally wrong on a lot of key points. He admits he didn’t say what he meant and that there were consequences to that mistake. But his haughty, standoffish attitude when addressing the media (and by proxy, golf fans) has shortened the slack he would ordinarily be afforded in a situation like this. Once an easy guy to like, Morikawa has become increasingly difficult to root for. You could say the same for many of the US players, and that, perhaps more than anything, produced the bad vibes at Bethpage Black.
