London, Sept 29 (AFP/APP):Shane Lowry has claimed Europe’s players and families were subjected to “dog’s abuse” from drunken American “idiots” during last weekend’s Ryder Cup.
Europe were thrashed 19-9 in Wisconsin, the biggest winning margin in the modern era, as the United States lived up to their billing as Ryder Cup favourites.
With only a handful of European fans able to travel to Whistling Straits due to coronavirus restrictions, the atmosphere was even more partisan than usual.
The European players were booed when they were introduced on the first tee and former British Open champion Lowry said they were heckled throughout the week.
“I didn’t think it was that bad until I asked my wife what it was like for her, and they got dog’s abuse going around as well,” Lowry said.
“It’s not very nice for them to have to listen to it, but that’s a small percentage of the crowd.
“They are obviously a home crowd and they are going to be a partisan crowd. Some of the stuff is not very nice. But look, that’s just the way it is. Some people are idiots, especially when they drink.
“Nobody turns into a genius with drinking, and that’s what they were doing last week. Especially if you were out in the afternoon matches, it was loud.
“As a team it was hard for us to perform our best because you stand up and you hit a three-iron into 10 feet from 250 yards and you don’t even get a ripple of applause.
“You almost get booed for it. But I tried to take it as best I could. I think I performed OK.”
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