Robert MacIntyre has suggested that it was Sepp Straka who faced the funniest heckle he heard from a spectator during the 2025 Ryder Cup, as he also commented on the behaviour of the crowds at Bethpage Black.
Europe were prepared for a hostile atmosphere as they looked to become the first away side to win the Ryder Cup since 2012. Famously, Luke Donald made sure that his team had already heard some of the shouts they could expect from the galleries.
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But of course, dealing with the abuse is a different matter altogether when you are also competing in golf’s biggest event. It was truly remarkable how the Europeans performed over the first two days to open up a significant lead heading into the singles.
Robert MacIntyre reveals the funniest heckle he heard at the 2025 Ryder Cup
Clearly, the cauldron boiled over on a number of occasions over the course of the week. However, there were some spectators who managed to stay on the right side with the comments they made to the Europeans.
Speaking to Golf Digest, Robert MacIntyre was asked what the funniest thing he has heard from those behind the ropes across his two Ryder Cup appearances was.
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“First practice round of the week at Bethpage, down the first hole, a fan at the left-hand side shouts, ‘hey Viktor, don’t forget your chipping yips this week’. We’re all like, ‘bit tight for a Monday or a Tuesday’. The same guy paused for five, 10 seconds and shouts, ‘hey Sepp, how does it feel to be bald at 32’. And to be fair, every one of us just started laughing. I remind Sepp every time when I see him now, ‘hey Sepp, how does it feel to be bald at 32’,” he said.
Robert MacIntyre asked whether the Bethpage crowds crossed the line
The 2025 Ryder Cup will unfortunately be largely remembered for the issues with some of the crowds. It felt as though battling the spectators took more out of Rory McIlroy over the first two days than the golf itself.
So it is no surprise that MacIntyre did not hesitate when he was subsequently asked whether anyone went too far during the event.
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“Yes, every hole. At the end of the day, we were prepared for it. We knew what was coming. I had a bad one with Tyrrell when we were walking. We weren’t even playing, we were out supporting. A couple of shouts that are not needed. But at the end of the day, the boys played unbelievable golf to win the Ryder Cup,” he said.
“At the BMW in America, I played against Scottie. It turned into a one vs one. It felt like it was me and Mike, my caddie, against the world. So I kind of had a feeling of what was coming a few weeks later. You get there, so you’re expecting it. You’ve got some triggers, so you know when something gets shouted, but Friday I felt like I didn’t have enough to almost blank that out. So going into Saturday, I tweaked what I was doing and what I was saying to myself before I was hitting shots because every shot you were stood over, there was shouts coming at you, even sometimes when you were hitting the shot.”
The Ryder Cup would not be the same event if the fans did not care as much as they do. It hits differently to any other week on the calendar. However, what happened at Bethpage surely needs to become a turning point.
Players expect a certain level of heckling at the Ryder Cup, and there are obviously going to be times when a handful of spectators cross the line. But it was jarring to watch McIlroy refuse to continue playing at one stage on the Saturday afternoon.
Thankfully, the European team were able to have the last laugh.
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