Rory McIlroy arrived at Bethpage Black expecting a fierce Ryder Cup battle, but nothing could have prepared him for the scenes that unfolded around his family. When Europe marched toward victory, the crowd grew increasingly hostile. Things took an ugly turn when the crowd attacked Rory’s wife, Erica Stoll. And American golfer Justin Thomas added another emotional layer to the situation.

Recently, Thomas sat down for a candid conversation on the No Laying Up podcast and shared his opinion on the situation that unfolded at the 2025 Ryder Cup.

Thomas started by taking a subtle dig at the security and the PGA authorities. “I think that uh I think there just should have been a lot better plan in place from the PGA and from the security aspect. It’s like you don’t want that to be what it is, but you know the first first day or two you throw a couple people out for saying some stuff like people are going to stop doing things like it’s um or or just some kind of accountability, right?” 

Everyone was left stunned when a drink was thrown in Erica’s direction on the 17th hole. The shock of it rippled through the entire European team. Rory, too, later opened up on how it was completely “off-limits” and a line that no supporter should have ever crossed. Referring to that Thomas added, “I think that was I remember the frustration like when Cam and I played Rory and Shane is like people were yelling stuff and our security guy was just kind of like looking there and like or no it was our even like our um not our security guy but our uh like our official he just was like standing there and Rory’s like can you do like can you help us here like these people are yelling at us and he’s just kind of like sitting there.”

She stood quietly on the ropes, supporting her husband as she always does, when sections of the crowd began directing a wave of insults toward her.

And Justin Thomas regretted every ounce of it. He voiced his dissatisfaction with how the scenario turned out for the families of the European golfers and added, “None of us wanted that. None of us hoped it would get to that. And it sucked. I felt I felt terrible. You know, just especially, I’ve always said I mean we get yelled stuff yelled at us all the time. I mean the way Ryder Cups like we always are getting bashed and yelled at, but it was just like anytime it starts getting into like you know, families or talking to the wives, like I just hate that.”

It all began as loud taunts. And soon, fans started shouting personal remarks that had nothing to do with the sport. Reflecting on that, Thomas added, “Like I felt terrible for for for Wendy and Eric out there and told him that because it was like they didn’t deserve that. Like they just out there trying to watch their husbands, you know, win a point, and had to deal with it. So yeah, it it was it was unfortunate.” Despite losing at the Ryder Cup, Thomas chose to take a stand against what he felt was wrong. However, the future of the American golfer looks uncertain.

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Justin Thomas to miss early 2026 events after back surgery

Justin Thomas did not have the best of Ryder Cups this year. While heavily touted to win the tournament, Team USA failed miserably against Team Europe. Unfortunately, for Thomas, his streak of misfortune seems to have continued. In a recent announcement from the 16-time PGA Champion, it was revealed that Thomas will be missing the early part of the 2026 season. 

As further details emerged, it became clear that the renowned golfer has undergone a disc surgery to address his lingering back issues that have been bothering him for quite some time now. Confirming the news on his official Instagram handle, Thomas wrote, “I’m not putting any tournament on the calendar or specific time for returning. While I will miss some events in the beginning of 2026, I want to be very smart and patient in letting my disc fully heal so it isn’t an issue again.” Surely, this will be a welcome break for the PGA golfer. 

After all, Thomas has been struggling significantly with his back in recent times. As a result, most of his notable victories came in the early parts of 2025. Thomas tied for sixth at the WM Phoenix Open while he notched up three second-place finishes in the American Express, Valspar, and Truist, respectively. He also won at the RBC, although all of these achievements came within the initial five months of 2025. However, the 2022 PGA champion did have a T7 finish at the Tour Championship held in August. Thus, as he will be missing the opening events of 2026, fans will be eager to see how strongly Thomas can make his comeback later on.