Golf: Willett says American fans proved his brother right

LONDON (Reuters) - Danny Willett signed off Europe's Ryder Cup defeat with a swipe at Americans fans on Monday, saying their behaviour over the weekend had justified comments made by his brother.

Golf: Willett says American fans proved his brother right

(Reuters)

Englishman Willett, the Masters champion, had distanced himself from brother Peter's blog in the run-up to the match at Minnesota's Hazeltine National which labelled some American fans "a baying mob of imbeciles".

But after a weekend of raucous support for the home side who reclaimed the trophy 17-11, rookie Willett changed his tune.

"Unfortunately some American fans showed that @P_J_Willett was in fact correct," he said on Twitter.

"Still shows that sometimes fans don't know when to call it a day...Shame really."

Willett had a forgettable Ryder Cup debut, failing to win a point and in Sunday's singles was thrashed 5&4 by Brooks Koepka.

While the majority of American fans stayed within the bounds of fairness, despite being extremely loud, some of the heckling edged over the line.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy was targetted on Saturday and asked for one fan to be removed.

"At times it went a little bit too far," he said. "But that's to be expected when you are teeing off at 7:45 in the morning, you're seeing people on the first tee with a beer and matches aren't finishing until 4:30, 5:00.

"A couple of people crossed the line but we'll take it on the chin."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman in London; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world