ESPN’s Mad Dog Russo melts down over ‘U-S-A’ chants at the RBC Heritage

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo appears on ESPN First Take this week and pulled off one of the most ridiculously hot takes of 2026. Following Scottie Scheffler’s playoff duel with Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, Russo inexplicably objected to American fans chanting “USA.” Russo thought it was problematic for American fans to support an American over an Englishman.

What?

Russo began by saying, “This is not the Ryder Cup.”

Did anyone think so? And since when do fans need an officially sanctioned red-white-blue contest before they are allowed to support an American player over a foreign one? Scheffler is American. Fitzpatrick is English. The tournament was in South Carolina. I can’t believe I have to explain this to a man who spent his entire life living in America and spent more than two-thirds of his life speaking into a microphone.

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But he’s not done. Not even close.

Russo’s ridiculous ‘First Take’ argument

“We are not fighting a war with England.”

Frankly, I can’t believe Russo said this on ESPN. First of all, no one thinks we are at war with Britain. Second, and this is basically the same response I gave to the Ryder Cup debate; Why should the United States have to be at war with a country to support our athletes against that country? The more I write about this topic, the more I think I should ignore it because its arguments are almost too stupid to deserve a response. But we’re already in this together, so let’s move on.

“Fitzpatrick is just as American [Stephen A.] Smith… he lives in Miami!”

Yeah, I don’t want to dignify this with an answer but unfortunately that’s what they pay me for. Just because Fitzpatrick lives in Florida doesn’t make him American. He’s from England. He has a thick British accent. He competes for Europe in the Ryder Cup and for Great Britain in the Olympics. He lives in America because it suits his job as a PGA Tour player. Not as “American” as a US citizen. This is a ridiculous comment by Russo.

“This isn’t the ’80 Olympics.”

Russo’s argument is not only incoherent, but also belongs in the “non sequitur” Hall of Fame (which doesn’t actually exist, but I think it should). This has absolutely nothing to do with the current situation. This is also the same argument as the “This isn’t the Ryder Cup” comment. It’s like Russo knows his position is ridiculous and doesn’t have good evidence to back it up, so he starts repackaging the same shot in different ways. Actually, “as if” is not a thing; That’s exactly what’s happening here.

Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo blasted RBC Heritage fans for chanting ‘USA’ during the Scheffler vs. Fitzpatrick match, but Fitzpatrick praised the atmosphere and said he never crossed the line. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Therefore, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo took a big hit as American fans supported Scottie Scheffler over Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage and chanted “USA”. But you know who doesn’t have a problem with that? Matt Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick’s reaction: “I totally agree with that.”

After beating Scheffler in the play-off, the Englishman said the Americans were “incredibly patriotic” and described the atmosphere at the winner’s press conference as “fantastic”. He said the crowd “didn’t cross the line” and added: “I totally agree with that.” He even went on a bit of a rant, joking that Americans had “shorter memories” because Europe won the Ryder Cup last September. In other words, Fitzpatrick understood that moment very well. He saw it as competitive, national and fun. In fact, Fitzpatrick had a greater appreciation for American patriotism than Russo. This should create a moment of self-evaluation for Russo, but I suspect it won’t.

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Russo has joined a growing list of so-called sports media figures who act as if any display of American loyalty warrants explanation or apology. Not. Russo needs to work at the Huffington Post with this kind of perspective. What he wrote during the Olympics.

The bigger problem is that Russo has overlooked what makes sports so important to societies, communities and nations. People rank athletes next to each other before sorting them out based on anything else. Set. School. City. Country.

This is why most race-first sports arguments are unfounded. The crowd in Hilton Head wasn’t making a complex statement or working on a sociological or philosophical thesis. He saw Scheffler as an American and Fitzpatrick as an Englishman and reacted accordingly.

American Scottie Scheffler and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick shake hands on the 15th green during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park Golf Course. (Ben Jared/PGA Tour)

we saw recently Certain sections of the sports media are making claims The NBA “wants more Europeans because they want more white stars.” This is as ridiculous as Russo’s claims, perhaps even more ridiculous. Sports fans care about who represents them. Nationality ranks far above skin color. Frankly, it’s not even close. The identity-obsessed media class believes otherwise. They are categorically wrong. If Tiger Woods had played Fitzpatrick in the playoffs, you can bet the “USA” chants would still be out. No one would think, “We should support the white man instead of the American because he’s black.” This sounded stupid even as I typed it.

In a culture that tries to divide everyone into smaller and smaller ideological and demographic groups, sports still have the opposite effect. This is one of the reasons why race-obsessed media often seem to hate sports. They know that this proves the exact opposite of the machinations of Critical Race Theory.

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Scottie Scheffler is an American. Not Matt Fitzpatrick. The crowd responded by supporting Scheffler and serenading him with chants of “USA.”

American fans support American athletes over foreign athletes. Period.

It always was. They always will.

And that’s exactly what should happen.