MASTERS champion Rory McIlroy appeared to show his middle finger to some heckling fans on day one of the Ryder Cup.
McIlroy and Shane Lowry took on USA stars Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns in the fourballs on Friday.
And following the 11th hole in their game, the Grand Slam winner seemingly reacted to something in the crowd.
McIlroy appeared to show his middle finger to the crowd while stepping off the green.
It has been claimed that he was heckled by a group of spectators.
Fans took to social media to react, with one person writing: “Are my eyes deceiving me or did anyone else see Rory giving the USA fans the bird after winning the 11th?”
Another said: “Sure looked like a middle finger from Rory McIlroy to the crowd after Lowry’s birdie on the 11th.”
While a third added: “Hope he doesn’t lose his head here… need to finish the job..”
McIlroy spoke on Thursday about engaging with the crowd while on the course.
He said: “I feel at times in the Ryder Cup, I have engaged too much with that, too much with the crowd.
“But then there’s times where I haven’t engaged enough.
“So it’s really just trying to find the balance of using that energy from the crowd to fuel your performance.
“I felt like at Hazeltine, I probably engaged too much at times, and then Whistling Straits, I didn’t engage enough and felt pretty flat because of it. It’s just trying to find that balance.”
McIlroy and Lowry tied with Cantlay and Burns to make the score 5 1/2 to 2 1/2 in Europe’s favour at the end of the final day.
