Bradley ‘didn’t’ help rein in ‘horrific’ Ryder Cup abuse – McIlroy
Rory McIlroy has claimed United States captain Keegan Bradley could have used his platform to curb abusive behavior from the crowd at last year’s Ryder Cup but did not take the opportunity.
Europe retained the trophy by defeating the USA 15-13 at Bethpage Black, becoming the first away team to win the tournament since 2012.
But they did so in New York despite Northern Ireland golfer McIlroy’s wife Erica being hit with a drink thrown by an American fan and “appalling” abuse directed at both them and their young daughter Poppy.
“We knew when we went to New York we were going to get a lot of sticking, a lot of abuse,” McIlroy said. Overlap., external
“Look, I don’t care if people tell me what you said.”
McIlroy said he was able to stop a Bethpage MC from participating by singing a profane chant about him, while he warmed up the crowd by saying it was “nothing compared to the other things we’ve heard.”
“My wife, Erica, would say she’s a grown woman, she’s strong, she can handle this,” McIlroy said. “But then when it started getting into your family, I heard things about my daughter that I can’t repeat here. It’s terrible.” he said.
The world number two added: “Keegan and I talked about it. “You definitely have to play for home advantage.
“But after what we heard on the field during the game on Friday night and Saturday night, there was an opportunity for Keegan or some of his teammates to say: ‘Let’s calm down here. Let’s try to play this game in the right spirit.’
“Some did that, but obviously Keegan had the biggest platform of the week as captain. It seems to me he could have said something on Friday or Saturday night but he didn’t.”
