'PGA of America could have done better' - European speaks out on ugly Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy in particular was subjected to a torrent of insults from US fans over the three days at Bethpage Black on Long Island, where his wife, Erica, was almost hit by a beer can as the atmosphere turned very hostile indeed during Saturday afternoon’s fourballs.

As he celebrated Europe’s successful defence of the trophy after holding off an American onslaught in the last-day singles, McIlroy stressed that the ugly events in the contest’s 45th edition “will not be acceptable in Ireland in 2027”.

Adare Manor in County Limerick is staging the centenary match then and Colsaerts, who played on a winning team on US soil at Medinah in 2012 as well, is also hoping that it will mark a return to banter from outside the ropes instead of boorish behaviour.

Offering his views on Ryder Cup matters past and present as he prepared to make his 500th DP World Tour appearance in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the Belgian said of last week: “We kind of knew it was going to get over the line. But I think it was worse than anybody would have anticipated, including myself.

“Like Rory said, I'm not sure that anyone would be ready to go and play a Ryder Cup like that. I think the PGA of America maybe could have handled the situation a little bit better at times.”

Asked what he believed could be done moving forward - Hazeltine, where it was also a bit toxic at times in 2008, staging the next match in the US in four years’ time - last year’s Dunhill runner-up to Tyrrell Hatton added: “I think that you have to be extremely strict. Yes, sport in the modern era has become something else. There's no doubt that sport has become entertainment.

“But, when you are in an arena like this and there is abuse from the crowd, that's not what it meant to be, or what Samuel Ryder (the man who came up with the idea for a transatlantic tussle and the trophy is named after) would have thought.”

During last week’s event, US captain Keegan Bradley, despite not even being there after he was controversially overlooked for a wildcard by Zach Johnson, said he’d “heard a lot of stories that Rome was pretty violent as well”.

Responding to that, Colsaerts said: “The thing that doesn't sit well is Americans think they have the same issues when they come to Europe, and I think this (the 2027 match) is the example that we need. I think you just have to be stricter. There's no choice. Otherwise, it will quickly get over the line like it was.

“You can't punish the ones that can't handle their drink but, as soon as you say something stupid, you're out. It's not the job of the European players to tell the security the guys should be booted out.

European players had to ‘police themselves’ in Long Island match

“There should be people there to know when a line is crossed, and it's just unfortunate that something like that had not been put in place and some of our guys, in the middle of the Ryder Cup playing golf against 12 very good American golfers, have to police themselves.”

In his role as one of the vice captains in Rome, Colsaerts was the chief cheerleader on the first tee and helped create a cracking atmosphere, with Heather McMahan, an American actress and comedian, having been tasked by the PGA of America to do the same thing in New York but relinquishing her position as emcee before Sunday’s singles after her inappropriate chant about McIlroy stirred up the home fans.