Rory McIlroy insists there will be no “retaliation” from home fans in 2018 when Europe attempt to regain the Ryder Cup which was lost in emphatic fashion at Hazeltine.
The United States won the biennial contest for the first time since 2008 with a 17-11 victory in front of raucous crowds in Minnesota, Davis Love’s side inflicting Europe’s heaviest defeat for 35 years.
McIlroy bore the brunt of the heckling over the first two days of competition and ultimately asked for one man who shouted vulgar abuse to be ejected, with Ryder Cup officials saying on Sunday that any disruptive fans would be made to leave.
“First and foremost, we wouldn’t encourage any sort of retaliation,” McIlroy said of the next contest at Le Golf National in Paris. “That’s just not who we are. That’s not what we do.
“We want to play this tournament in the manner in which it should be played. And between us, the 12 players and vice-captains and captains on this team and between the 12 players on the US team, it was played in the manner in which it should have been played.
“We have no problems with anyone on either team, and really, it’s just a very small minority; 95 per cent of the people out there, the American gallery are absolutely fantastic, they really are.
“But this week, at times, it went a little bit too far. But you know, that’s to be expected. When you are teeing off at 7:35 in the morning and you’re seeing people on the first tee with a beer in their hand and matches aren’t finishing until 4:30, 5:00 in the afternoon, I know I would be done at that point. I don’t know what I would be saying!
“So it has to be expected. A couple of people out there crossed the line, but we’ll take it on the chin. We’ll move on and we’ll definitely not encourage anything like that to happen in France next time around.”
Captain Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood were keen to emphasise that American players and vice-captains tried to maintain order during the matches, Westwood adding: “Fair play to Bubba Watson and the two lads that myself and Danny (Willett) were playing yesterday afternoon (JB Holmes and Ryan Moore).
“They were trying to cut all that off and they were doing their bit to stop that as well.
“And on a good point, I got called a turd yesterday, which is the first time since I was about 12 years old, so it made me feel young again!”
Willett came in for particular abuse after a magazine article written by his brother which expressed anti-American sentiments was published, the Masters champion failing to win a point from three matches.
Asked to sum up his Ryder Cup debut, Willett said: “S***. I can only be honest.”