Euro Ryder Cup hero slams ‘stupid’ US fans

By Andy Hampson

Europe’s former Ryder Cup luminary Ian Poulter has fanned the flames ahead of this week’s contest at Bethpage Black with a foul-mouthed rant about American fans.

The hostile welcome the European side are likely to encounter as they defend the trophy against the United States has been one of the major talking points in the build-up to the event in New York.

Poulter has spent a significant amount of his career playing in the US and four of his seven Ryder Cup appearances between 2004 and 2021 came in the country.

The 49-year-old told SPORTbible: “I don’t even know where to start. I mean, f****** ‘mashed potatoes’ and all that f****** b******* that you hear is madness. ‘In the hole, get in the hole!’ It’s a 600-yard par five, you f****** idiot’.

“I actually just want to borrow the taser (from) the security guard. Just to let one go per hole would be amazing. Imagine that you got one taser per hole. That’d be awesome. That’d go right between the eyes. Have it!”

Poulter, who has no involvement with the current team, added that “it’s not heckling, it’s just complete and utter embarrassing stupidity”.

European captain Luke Donald has equipped his players with virtual reality headsets to help them prepare for any potential abuse in New York.

Tommy Fleetwood, one of the most experienced members of the team, concedes however that little can be done and he intends to embrace the atmosphere.

The 34-year-old, who is appearing in his fourth Ryder Cup, said: “The home crowd is a big part of what makes the Ryder Cup so special, so unique to us.

“That energy, that passion and that home team environment is something that plays such a big part in the Ryder Cup, and I think you have to embrace that, enjoy it and look forward to it, even when you’re the away team.

“I’m kind of looking forward to that. It’s great to soak up that atmosphere.

“When it’s ‘go time’, when it’s time to play, I think it’s like every other tournament except this one is hyped up.

“I try to get into my bubble as much as possible, especially when I’m coming in to play my shots.

“That’s no different in the Ryder Cup – it’s just an extreme atmosphere. It’s the most extreme atmosphere that we get.

“No matter what you do, nothing prepares you for a Friday morning on the first tee of the Ryder Cup.”

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg is feeling a greater sense of belonging ahead of his second Ryder Cup appearance this week, two years after a debut so spectacular it left world No.1 Scottie Scheffler in tears and rewrote the record books.

Aberg made history in 2023 as the first player to compete in a Ryder Cup before appearing in a major championship, but it was his performance alongside Viktor Hovland that truly announced his arrival on golf’s biggest stage.

The European duo’s 9&7 foursomes victory over Americans Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in Rome marked the largest margin of victory for an 18-hole match in Ryder Cup history, a result so emphatic it reduced the world’s best player to tears on the way to helping Europe earn overall victory.

“It’s not something I think about,” world No.16 Aberg told reporters on Wednesday at Bethpage Black.

“Obviously that day, it was somewhat of a freak result and something that we didn’t quite expect. But it was a cool experience that me and Viktor had.”

For Aberg, one of Luke Donald’s captain’s picks for the 2023 Ryder Cup less than four months into his professional career, the significance of the foursomes win went far beyond the record books.

The victory showed he belonged among golf’s elite, having never even met his high-profile opponents before.

“The biggest thing that I take away from those couple days, and maybe especially that morning, was just the validation for myself, that I’m able to do that,” said Aberg.

“Because obviously before I played in Rome, I hadn’t even met those guys. I had never shaken their hands. I had never had a conversation with them.”

Now Aberg returns to the biennial matchplay competition far from the unknown quantity he was two years ago and looking to help Europe retain the Ryder Cup with their first road win since 2012.

Aberg enters the Ryder Cup following a 2025 season during which he claimed his second PGA Tour title, finished in the top 10 at the Masters for a second consecutive year and earned a share of 21st at last month’s Tour Championship.

No matter who Aberg faces this week at Bethpage Black, the 25-year-old Swede will be far from intimidated given what he accomplished at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

“For me to get there and to bring out a result like that was a big deal for me personally, to know that I’m able to beat those guys at times,” said Aberg.

“I’m able to compete and play good golf against them. That’s the biggest thing that I take away.”