Lucas: Ryder Cup yahoos showed disrespect for hosts

There was only one way the American golfers were going to win the Ryder Cup And that was if Donald Trump the golfer in chief had ICE arrest detain and deport the visiting members of the European club all foreigners He could have done it before the match even began with the American association winning by forfeit That was when after an impressive flyover aboard Air Force One he greeted and pep-talked U S golfers The drunken louts who mocked and obscenely jeered the European Ryder Cup contenders at last weekend s event at Bethpage Black golf discipline on Long Island would have loved it The territory line after all is supposed to be closed they would have stated So what are these European guys doing here embarrassing American golfers by winning the prestigious Ryder Cup And all members of the European squad not to mention their caddies trainers and psychiatrists were non-Americans as well Rory McIlroy the champion golfer is for instance from Northern Ireland in the U K while his golfing buddy Shane Lowry is from Ireland Jon Rahm is from Spain Victor Houland is from Norway Sepp Straka is from Austria Rasmus Hojgaard is from Denmark Ludwig Aberg is from Sweden and so on The rest were from England no doubt seeking asylum because free speech is so under attack in England that were he alive currently Shakespeare would be under house arrest and his golf clubs confiscated Trump before the U S unit was totally outplayed and embarrassed by the Europeans was cheered with fans chanting his name and USA USA USA But it was all downhill from there and quite nasty as well And even ICE could not have saved the golfers of the American Ryder Cup group The Europeans smoked them And the only people detained arrested or removed for obnoxious and disgusting behavior were drunken rude and unruly fans from New York They acted as though they were at a New York Jets competition with paper bags over their heads instead of at the prestigious Ryder Cup Maybe New York expected Mayor-in-Waiting Zohran Mamdani to straighten things out The event which was shown on television around the world had shots of fans lying around passed out from early morning booze while shield guards hustled other drunks away It was not a good look for golf It was not a good look for America McIlroy and Lowry were singled out for the worst of the harassment It was so bad that Lowry at one point had to be restrained before punching out a fan yelling obscenities at him and McIlroy At another point McIlroy shouted at a harassing fan to shut the f k up as he prepared for a shot At still another point following derogatory insults about his marriage a fan threw a beer at McIlroy and his wife Erica who followed McIlroy s progress I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy Lowry reported later and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing and the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her organization was unbelievable and kudos for her for that And Erica is an American The breakdown of civility on the golf program replaced by brutish personal and gang-like behavior is yet another example of the breakdown of civility in America Nothing is dignified anymore Everything is trashed Here is what McIlroy revealed of America before the match It s the land of opportunity And I still believe it s the best country in the world and if you come here and work hard and dedicate yourself you can be or do whatever you want I am unbelievably grateful and lucky that I got to come to America early on I think success is celebrated here I have a lot of affinity towards this country and I think everyone that lives here should have that same affinity because it s a wonderful wonderful place Hopefully he still believes it Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at peter lucas bostonerald com