Rory McIlroy received letter of apology from Derek Sprague after Ryder Cup abuse
Rory McIlroy has revealed PGA of America chief executive Derek Sprague sent a personal apology for the abuse directed at him and his wife during Europe’s Ryder Cup victory in New York.
Europe held off a stirring fightback from the United States at Bethpage Black, where the Americans had gone into the final session 12-5 down before mounting a comeback in the singles, only to come up short.
Luke Donald’s team – and McIlroy in particular – were on the end of some unsavoury abuse from a partisan crowd across the three days, with a beer tossed from the crowd hitting the hat of McIlroy’s wife Erica.
McIlroy, though, has since received a “lovely letter” from Sprague looking to smooth things over.
“I got a lovely e-mail from Derek Sprague apologising,” McIlroy told BBC Sport as he prepared for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
“Erica worked with Derek at the PGA of America back in the day, so we know Derek and his wife pretty well.
“He couldn’t have been more gracious or apologetic and he wrote us a lovely letter, which we really appreciated.”
USA captain Keegan Bradley had refused to condemn the “passionate” home fans at Bethpage, where McIlroy felt the hostile atmosphere had actually spurred Europe on.
“I take it as a compliment that they targeted me, but then at the same time, it was a tough week,” McIlroy said.
“That made us better as a team. It galvanised us and it really put our arms around each other.”
Meanwhile, Masters champion McIlroy has labelled LIV Golf’s decision to move to a 72-hole format as “peculiar”.
Since its inception in 2022, LIV Golf tournaments have been 54-hole events – playing a role in the Official World Golf Ranking denying it ranking points – but this is all set to change in 2026.
He said: “I think it's a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds. I don't think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back.
"It brings them back into not really being a destructor and sort is of falling more in line with what everyone else does.
"But if that's what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that's what they had to do.”