NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Rory McIlroy’s frustrating final round at the PGA Championship on Sunday boiled over with an angry exchange with a fan after a “U-S-A!” shout from the gallery at Aronimink Golf Club.
An errant shot out of heavy rough at the scoreable 16th hole derailed McIlroy’s come-from-behind bid, and he appeared to respond to the shout by using an expletive while telling the fan to “shut up.”
The exchange summarized the two-time Masters champion’s confounding final round.
McIlroy said earlier in the week that the outlandish and abusive fan behavior he endures — as at the Ryder Cup in 2025 — is usually limited to one week every four years, when those matches are contested in the U.S.
Sunday’s interaction, far less severe than what he heard at Bethpage in New York, seemingly just came at a bad time.
McIlroy was three strokes behind eventual champion Aaron Rai on the par-5 16th hole when his second shot out of rough from 37 yards was short and bounded into a bunker. McIlroy spun, glared at the spectator, grumbled under his breath and seemed to point out the person to security.
McIlroy started the final round three strokes behind the leaders and struggled to make up ground while others were finding the Donald Ross layout scoreable. He managed just one birdie on the front nine, and after a bogey 5 at the drivable par-4 13th, managed one more birdie coming in, settling for a 69 to tie for seventh at 4 under.
He didn’t comment on the fan interaction but acknowledged that he left some strokes on the course.
“I think not birdieing the two par-5s and making the bogey at the drivable par-4 13th,” he said. “To me, I felt like I played the golf I needed to play the rest of the way. If I birdied the two par-5s and turned that 5 into a 3 on 13, the day looks very different.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
