Rory McIlroy to copy Novak Djokovic at Ryder Cup after incident with star's wife

Rory McIlroy will draw inspiration from Novak Djokovic's approach when facing hostile crowds at Bethpage Black during this month's Ryder Cup. The 34-year-old will represent Team Europe alongside his Olympic team-mate Shane Lowry. Europe skipper Luke Donald must ensure his squad is ready to tackle stars like Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau whilst enduring verbal barrages from New York spectators.

McIlroy isn't alone in experiencing confrontations with American supporters previously, as relatives and partners of Team Europe golfers have also faced heckling and hostility across the pond. Nevertheless, the Northern Irishman – who joins Team Europe alongside Bob MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick – reveals he's adopting Djokovic's strategy, with the Serbian having claimed countless championships despite frequently being tennis' pantomime villain.

Discussing Djokovic with The Washington Times, McIlroy revealed: "He's been the best at handling that (abuse from spectators). He's had to deal with it his whole life, whether it's playing against an American in New York or playing against Roger [Federer] or Rafael [Nadal]. He came and spoke to us a little bit about that stuff last time in Rome.

"He came and spoke to us a little bit about that stuff last time in Rome. So maybe taking a leaf out of his book and channelling that energy the right way. But again, all we can do is control our reaction and our emotions to it. I think the less we play into it, the better it is for us."

McIlroy will forever recall the 2016 competition at Hazeltine International, Minnesota, when he tried to get one particularly offensive spectator ejected. Without revealing what he heard, McIlroy said the supporter was yelling "derogatory things I thought were over the line."

Lowry, alongside embracing McIlroy's strategy, may also need to share his team-mate's guidance with his wife Wendy. During the 2021 competition, which witnessed Team USA demolish Europe 19-9, the Irish golfer admitted he was genuinely shocked by the cordial reception he got from American supporters at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Unfortunately for his spouse, she and numerous others associated with Team Europe weren't shown the same courtesy. Following his point alongside Tyrell Hatton, Lowry disclosed: "I didn't think it was that bad until I asked my wife what it was like for her.

"They got dog's abuse going around as well. It's not very nice for them to have to listen to it, but that's a small percentage of the crowd. Some of the stuff is not very nice. But look, that's just the way it is.

"Some people are idiots, especially when they drink. Nobody turns into a genius with drinking and that's what they were doing last week, especially if you were out in the afternoon matches. It was loud.

"As a team it was hard for us to perform our best because you stand up and you hit a three-iron into 10 feet from 250 yards and you don't even get a ripple of applause. You almost get booed for it."

Last September, US captain Keegan Bradley made it clear any spectators at Bethpage Black this year will be shown the door if their behaviour is unacceptable.

Bradley, who chose not to become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963, said: "The PGA of America has things in place for each group to monitor the situation.

"If you act inappropriately you're going to be asked to leave the tournament. I hope and expect the fans will respect what the guys are doing but also at the same time be lively and supporting our team."