Gary Neville has jokingly urged Roy Keane to apologise to Rory McIlroy and his wife Erica Stoll for comments Keane made about the Ryder Cup. The remarks were made on a previous episode of The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast, where Keane suggested that if he were McIlroy, he would have told his wife to stay in the hotel rather than attend the tournament amid fan abuse.
Neville raised the issue before McIlroy joined the podcast, telling Keane: 'You're going to have to apologise to Rory and his wife by the way for insulting her on the programme.' A stunned Keane replied: 'How did I insult her? For getting a new outfit, how is that an insult?'
The comments stem from last year's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, where McIlroy and his wife endured abuse from US fans. Keane had said on the podcast: 'If I was a golfer and my partner was getting abuse, I'd tell them, "Just stay at the hotel, love. I'll see you tonight when I get back." ... But you've got a new outfit and you come to the Ryder Cup?'
McIlroy, who appeared on the podcast, was shown a clip of Keane's comments and revealed that his wife 'loved this'. He explained that he had also suggested his wife stay away due to concerns about abuse, but she insisted on attending to support him. 'In fairness to them, they were like, no, we want to be out there, we want to support you,' McIlroy said.
Team Europe went on to win the Ryder Cup 15-13, and PGA of America chief executive Derek Sprague later sent a formal apology to McIlroy for the abuse he and his family endured.
