It seems a little out of place that a match which had absolutely everything both good and bad ended with a concession on the 18th.
But Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry won’t care after they had to overcome much more than the challenge of Justin Thomas and Cameron Young to earn their first full point as a Ryder Cup partnership.
Both European players suffered constant abhorrent abuse from the US fans which was personal and vile. On Saturday evening in Rome, McIlroy ended up in Lowry’s arms as he was being bundled into a car after a heated argument. This time Rory fell into Shane’s embrace like an exhausted child on 18, his big brother was there for him in more ways than one yesterday.
“Yeah, hugely satisfying,” said a worn out McIlroy after fighting off disgraceful abuse on top of playing all four sessions so far.
“It’s Shane and I’s first full point as a partnership. We got a half yesterday, but it’s nice to get another blue point on the board.”
It was also a superb performance from Lowry who won three holes for the pair including an eagle on the fourth and five birdies in a row to finish.
“I’m so proud of this guy,” McIlroy added. “He was there for me all day. I was drained to say the least, and he dug in big time when he had to.
“I chipped in when I could here and there. But the credit goes to this man today.”
Europe are now on the brink of a fifth away Ryder Cup victory and first since 2012 with McIlroy seeking to bookend his grand slam year with a legacy defining team win.
However, that’s not the full story of Saturday at Bethpage. The PGA of America were forced to add extra security during the afternoon matches to control crowd heckling and abuse of European players, particularly McIlroy and Lowry.
McIlroy was battered with relentless abuse all day. He even retaliated by telling an American fan to shut the f**k up on Saturday morning.
McIlroy was booed through a heated afternoon session, where a cry of “f*** you, Rory” disrupted his putt at the fourth before Lowry resumed his bodyguard role and canned his eagle putt and roared “f*** you” at the Americans.
The atmosphere was toxic enough for Thomas and Young to gesture to the crowd to calm down while McIlroy refused to putt on the sixth until the crowd simmered down.
Lowry also had to be held back by his caddie Darren Reynolds after he was targeted with abuse.
McIlroy had to face jibes about his marriage and last year’s US Open “choke” against DeChambeau, while Lowry was constantly insulted over his weight.
“Look, when you play an away Ryder Cup, it’s really, really challenging,” said the Masters champion.
“You know, it’s not for me to say. People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”
Lowry added: “Look, we knew what we were going to get coming here. It was a very tough day. Being out with Rory doesn’t make it any easier. I think he’s getting the brunt of it.
“But I think we dealt with it very well. You know, I said at the start of the week, I don’t know what way I’m going to deal with it but I’m going to be myself and I was myself out there today and thankfully that worked.”
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