US GOLFER BACKTRACKS ON ‘CHAOS’ COMMENT AFTER RYDER CUP CROWD ‘CROSSED THE LINE’

Team USA golfer Collin Morikawa has claimed he was ‘taken out of context’ after saying he had hoped the Ryder Cup would be ‘absolute chaos’.

The two-time major winner made the comment in the lead-up to the tournament at Bethpage Black, which Europe won after Shane Lowry sank a putt for Europe to retain the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2012.

However, that victory was overshadowed by a weekend of controversy, mainly centred around the crowd at the New York golf course.

The Ryder Cup is known for having a more rowdy and loud crowd, but many believe that the behaviour at Bethpage Black went too far, especially the abuse being hurled towards Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

McIlroy and Lowry both lashed back at the crowd at various points, and even McIlroy’s wife, Erica Stoll, was on the receiving end of abuse as a drink was thrown at her during the second day. It led to the PGA of America CEO, Derek Sprague, admitting to sending an apology to the couple in the aftermath of Europe’s win.

Speaking ahead of the PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic in Yokahoma, Japan, Morikawa spoke about how he felt his wish for ‘absolute chaos’ for day one of the Ryder Cup was misconstrued by some.

‘I think we’ve taken what I said a little out of context. I think Ryder Cups are meant to have a lot of energy, right, and I think me saying the word “chaos”, I didn’t mean for them to be rude, right?

‘So, like that’s not on me, I believe, for me to take credit for people being rude. I think what I meant was like I wanted energy, right?

‘I don’t think me saying one word, everyone listened – I don’t think I have the power to do that amongst people. I think fans can do and say what they want sometimes. It probably crossed a line out there, so I would say there’s a line that needs to be drawn.’

Morikawa went on to talk about how golf is a lot more personal than other sports, as spectators can get so close to the golfers, but the heckling needs to be toned down a bit.

‘But what’s so different and unique about golf is that we hear nearly everything that people say because people have access to be so close to us. I think you have to learn how to find that division of what’s appropriate and what’s not.’

Collin Morikawa actually faced McIlroy twice during the Ryder Cup weekend, as he and Harris English were resoundingly beaten by the ‘Fleetwood Mac’ pairing of McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood on two foursome sessions on Friday and Saturday morning. Some statisticians had used data to find out that Morikawa and English were the worst possible pairing out of the 132 possible pairings Keegan Bradley could’ve gone for.

This led to many criticising Bradley for the bizarre call to keep to his guns and roll Morikawa and English out again on Saturday, only to be beaten again. With Europe eventually winning by such a small margin, this call looks even worse in hindsight.

Morikawa would then tie his singles match against Tyrrell Hatton, handing Europe the vital half point to secure Europe the full victory at Bethpage Black.

2025-10-08T11:55:39Z