‘Cretins’ and ‘dim Yanks’: my brother was right about US Ryder Cup fans, says Danny Willett
Comments about American supporters led to a backlash from the galleries at Hazeltine as the hosts won 17-11 to reclaim the trophy from Europe
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Masters champion Danny Willett took a parting shot at American fans on Monday as he claimed his brother Peter’s controversial comments were proved right by their behaviour during the Ryder Cup.
Peter Willett described American fans as a “baying mob of imbeciles”, “cretins” and “dim Yanks” just before the USA’s 17-11 victory over Europe.
Danny Willett said before the start of play that it was “a bad article written at a bad time”, but his jibes fired up American supporters, who taunted members of the European team through the three day event.
Raucous crowds at Hazeltine heckled Rory McIlroy in particular as the hosts regained the trophy for the first time since 2008.
The Northern Irishman admitted “a couple of people crossed the line” but said that was “to be expected”.
Writing on Twitter, Danny Willett expressed his frustration with the fans’ abuse and his own poor play.
“Very strange week here at the Ryder Cup. Tried my best but played poorly,” Willett, who will feature at this year’s UBS Hong Kong Open, tweeted.
“Unfortunately some American fans showed that @P_J_Willett was in fact correct.
“Nothing to blame my bad play on. But still shows that sometimes fans don’t know when to call it a day. Shame really!!”
Willett did not feature in the Friday morning foursomes and was hammered 5&4 by Brooks Koepka in Sunday’s singles.
He was also beaten in the Friday fourballs by Koepka and Brandt Snedeker alongside Martin Kaymer while he and Lee Westwood lost by one hole to JB Holmes and Ryan Moore in Saturday’s fourballs.
