It was a disappointing week for Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open, but the Irishman still found a way to silence a loud heckler without saying a word.

In the final round, one spectator repeatedly targeted McIlroy after his tee shots. While the World No. 2 appeared to ignore the comments, that was not the case.

“Get in the bunker, bunker, I hope you live there today,” the spectator screamed at McIlroy.

As seen in a video shared by NUCLR Golf on X, McIlroy walked off the tee box, looked at the heckler, and gestured at the size of his belly, winning the exchange without saying a word.

The crowd roared as the heckler screamed in disbelief, adding to McIlroy's growing list of run-ins with spectators after he told fans to "shut up" at the Ryder Cup in September and had a heckler removed at the PGA Championship last month.

At the start of the tournament, McIlroy expressed his love for playing in New York. He also knew that the major was a totally different setting from the Ryder Cup.

“Look, I love playing around New York. I love playing in this area. It’s got some of the best golf in the world. This is a different — like the Ryder Cup is us versus them, very partisan, very — like it’s just a different beast," he said.

While the fans had largely welcomed him throughout the week, the final-round incident summed up a disappointing U.S. Open for McIlroy at Shinnecock Hills.

McIlroy on his performance at Shinnecock

McIlroy finished at 6-over par for the major, which placed him in a tie for 32nd. The Irishman was starting to build a low score when the script flipped on Saturday.

"I think looking back on the entire week, I'll obviously rue the back nine yesterday. I got myself to two under par for the tournament after nine yesterday, and then the wheels came off, and I played a really bad back nine. I sort of shot myself out of the tournament then. Obviously was really disappointed coming away from the course last night,” said McIlroy in an interview with BBC Sport.

The World No. 2 recorded three consecutive birdies on the front nine and was 2-under for the event on Saturday. However, five bogeys on the back nine took him to a 3-over-par score.

McIlroy never returned to contention after that. He made six bogeys in the final round and posted a 3-over-par closing score, nowhere near enough to secure his second U.S. Open title.

What are your thoughts on McIlroy’s response to the heckler? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav