Aside from Team Europe dominating the Americans over the course of the first two days of the 2025 Ryder Cup, one of the wilder moments from the biennial event involved comedian Heather McMahan and chants of “f- – – you Rory” ringing out across the first tee at Bethpage Black.
Now, a year removed from helping lead the vulgar chants, McMahan is claiming that if she were a man, the consequences that followed never would have happened.
Ahead of Saturday’s foursomes matches, McMahan, who was hired as an MC for the event, attempted to fire up the crowd on Long Island. While it’s an admittedly awkward job for anyone to start chanting things into a microphone at sunrise in front of tens of thousands of rowdy golf fans screaming their own obscenities, McMahan made a mistake that immediately cost her.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE
As fans in the stands started a ‘f you Rory’ chant for Team Europe leader Rory McIlroy, McMahan joined in and started shouting the chant into her microphone. The following day, the PGA of America issued a statement explaining that McMahan had extended an apology to McIlroy and had stepped down from her role. McMahan recently told Oona McCaughan of Barstool Sports that she was “immediately fired” after joining in on the chants.
During a recent sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter, McMahan reflected on nearly being “cancelled” after the incident while pinning the blame on golf not knowing its identity, whatever that means.
“The Ryder Cup has always been known to be heavily competitive between Europe and America,” McMahan told the outlet. “But it’s always been in good fun? I think [having it in Long Island], the already the weird animosity that America was having to outsiders, I don’t think they were set up for success that year. And, I’ll fall on the sword. I did not help the cause. It’s just really wild.
“What does golf want to be? Is it all buttoned up like The Masters? Is it trying to be Happy Gilmore? I do think golf needed to like shake off the cobwebs, quit being as stuffy, but it doesn’t know where it wants to go.”
RIDICULOUS USA TODAY COLUMN PROVES THAT THE DEMAND FOR MISOGYNY IN SPORTS FAR EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY
THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!
After explaining that she’s only planning on attending LPGA events from now on, McMahan claimed that her being a woman played a role in the backlash and firing.
“I went to the Masters and got to see him win again. I’m still a huge fan,” McMahan said, referring to McIlroy winning the green jacket in April. “It’s not the players. They’re doing their thing. It’s just this kind of weird environment with some of the male fans these days. And again, I apologized, but I do think, had a male comedian been in my shoes, we would have never had this conversation. They wouldn’t have given a s – – t. Dudes being dudes. Set it on fire, man.”
GOLF CHANNEL ANALYST CALLS LONG ISLAND FANS ‘A STAIN ON THE GAME’ AFTER US OPEN INCIDENTS
It’s extremely hard to find a modicum of truth in what McMahan is implying.
If anyone who is hired to MC one of the largest events in golf grabs a microphone and joins in on ‘f you’ chants directed at a player in the event you’re being paid to be a part of, that person is undoubtedly being fired, regardless of gender.
When it comes to the idea that McMahan should have been cancelled for the chant, that’s equally as absurd.
The 2025 Ryder Cup was three full days of American fans shouting obscenities at every European player, but fans aren’t held to the same standard as a paid employee of the event, as McMahan was presumed to be.
