In what will probably come as no surprise, Roy Keane has no time for the sympathy being given to Rory McIlroy and the European Ryder Cup team after the abuse they suffered from the American fans in Bethpage Black, stating that it was inevitable.
McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood were among the players to hit out at the fan abuse in the aftermath of the Ryder Cup. McIlroy bore the brunt of the taunts particularly on the Saturday. But Keane believes that the players should have, in classic fashion, got on with the job.
“I’m no expert on golf, but you are telling me these players were under pressure because a few people were shouting? Come to Leeds or Anfield on a Tuesday night, let me tell you,” said Keane on the latest edition of the Stick to Football podcast.
“These guys play in big tournaments every week, so all of a sudden they are going to be upset by a few Yanks?
“You’ve got McIlroy. He’s won all the big prizes. Do you think he’s going to be upset by a few people? It’s ridiculous.”
The abuse wasn’t just limited to players. The players’ wives and girlfriends were also abused with one fan launching a beer cup at McIlroy’s wife Erica.
“They get upset because of their partners, but let me tell you what I would say to my partner,” said an animated Keane.
“If I was a golfer and my partner was getting abuse, I’d tell them: ‘Just stay at the hotel, love. I’ll see you tonight when I get back.
“They don’t come to all the other tournaments, but guess what… you get a new outfit and you come to the Ryder Cup!
“You’ve got a lovely new outfit, a new belt, a new handbag and they are getting loads of stick. Well, go home.
“I can guarantee, they are going back to a nice hotel, they are not in a camp, a tent.
“They knew it was coming. It’s been built up for the last six months. Of course they knew they were going to get abused.”
McIlroy was a guest on one of the early editions of Stick to Football where he famously reminded Keane that he never signed an autograph for him when he spotted him in the Republic of Ireland team hotel as a child.
Keane was quick to lob a playful dig at McIlroy.
“Hey, I didn’t see him signing autographs afterwards, by the way. All them little kids waiting for him.”
As for the Ryder Cup as a spectacle. Keane did tune in and watch Europe win on away soil for the first time since 2012 but isn’t buying into the narrative that the USA had one of the great if unfulfilled comebacks.
“It was as over after two hours, course it was,” added Keane. “Nothing happened on Sunday. It was over on Friday.
“It’s like a football team that are 4-0 and they get one back, but it’s never going to happen. We are 4-1 up.
“I’m watching at home and it was over after two hours, I’m telling you.”
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