'I Can’t Wait To Reach Out To Rory And Erica' - PGA Of America Plans 'Heartfelt Apologies' For Ryder Cup Fan Abuse

PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague will apologize to Rory McIlroy and the entire European team for the abuse they took at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

While PGA of America president Don Rea has largely played down the abuse that Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in particular suffered, CEO Sprague was keen to apologize and say "we take responsibility for the fan behavior."

Everyone was expecting a fierce New York crowd, but some overstepped the mark, repeatedly disturbing players while trying to hit shots and shouting obscene and personal jibes that went way beyond the line.

The abuse was even directed at players' families and wives, with Erica McIlroy in particular being targeted - she even had a drink spilled on her during that infamous Saturday.

"I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing and the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable," said Shane Lowry in the aftermath of Sunday's epic win.

In an interview with the Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard, Sprague acknowledged that the fan behavior was unacceptable and says he plans to apologize to team Europe - and in particular McIlroy and his wife.

"I talked a little to Paul McGinley last night. I haven’t spoken to Rory or Erica, I do plan on sending them an e-mail with my heartfelt apologies because of what occurred," Sprague told Hoggard.

"There’s no place for that in the Ryder Cup or the game of golf. I heard Rory say it, we’re better than that in golf.

"That’s one thing our game has always portrayed when you compare us to other sports is that golf is a great game and people enjoy the game because of the values that golf has.

"I can’t wait to reach out to Rory and Erica, and really the entire European team. Rory might have been a target because of how good he is, but the entire European team should not have been subjected to that.

"I feel badly and I plan on apologizing to them."

Sprague said the PGA had been "planning for a number of years" for the Ryder Cup and the unique challenge of the New York fans, and insisted that they dealt with crowd problems as swiftly as possible.

"We reacted to fan behavior, including removing a number of fans from the event or moving them away from players they were abusing," Sprague said.

"We dealt with it swiftly and efficiently as it was made known to us."

Sprague said he would use lessons learned from Bethpage on Ryder Cups going forward, but was ultimately left disappointed by the upset the behavior of a minority of fans caused.

"Certainly, it’s not the values of the PGA of America or our 30,000 PGA golf professionals who work every day in this game to bring joy and laughter and fun to golf," he admitted.

"Certainly, we did not witness that, there’s no place for that at the Ryder Cup, no place for it in the game of golf and we are not happy with what happened last week."