Rory McIlroy isn’t accepting any backswings aimed at his family.
Indeed, the Irish golfer defended his wife Erica Stoll after she was heckled by fans—and even had beer thrown at her—at the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York.
“Erica is fine,” Rory, 36, told reporters in a post-match interview on Sept. 29. “She is a very strong woman and she handled everything this week with class, poise and dignity like she always has. I love her and we’re going to have a good time celebrating tonight.”
While the duo—who share 5-year-old daughter Poppy Mcllroy—are now in good spirits, their appearance at the three-day tournament was chaotic. As Rory and Erica walked towards his next shot on the course, a fan threw a beer can at her head. Once the Masters champ noticed the hit, he walked over to the crowd to confront the fan before he was led back to the course.
However, Erica wasn’t the only person who received a hostile welcome at the event, which saw Team Europe see victory over Team USA.
That same day, Rory told a heckler to “shut the f--k up” as he prepared for his 16th hole on the field. Shortly after he made the impressive shot, fans started booing and laughing at him. Then in another moment, Rory seemingly yelled a few expletives towards the crowd.
“I chirped back a few times because it got to me a few times, but we tried to handle everything that came our way with class and poise,” he said of the moment in another post-match interview on Sept. 29, per ABC News. “And for the most part, I felt like we did that. It was a rough week for all of us, but at the same time, we shut them up by our performance.”
But beyond his performance, Rory still believes that the crowd shouldn’t be hostile to him or other players on the course.
“Look, I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” McIlroy said in the Team Europe press conference on Sept. 28. “I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.”
After all, he believes the sport has the “ability to unite people.”
“Golf teaches you very good life lessons,” he continued. “It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people. Sometimes this week we didn’t see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup.”