Shane Lowry says family members of players got 'dog's abuse' at the Ryder Cup from certain sections of the crowd. 

The Offaly man revealed that 'a small percentage of the crowd' at Whistling Straits hurled comments at players' families.

He says he only realised the extent of it when speaking to his wife, Wendy, about her experience of the tournament.

Europe fell to a 19-9 defeat, with Lowry gaining one point on his debut with a memorable fourball win on Saturday.

Supporters at the event were virtually all backing the USA, owing to travel restrictions preventing any European fans making the journey to Wisconsin.

"I didn't think it was that bad until I asked my wife what it was like for her, and they got dog's abuse coming around as well," Lowry said, speaking in advance of this week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

"So it's not very nice is it, and it's not very nice for them to have to listen to this. But that was a small percentage of the crowd.

"The majority of the crowd - I finished my match on 16 on Sunday and I was walking back down to follow the other groups and I got a huge ovation off the crowd and in the grandstand on 16, that was pretty cool.

"And I thought I got on well with the crowd last week as best I could.

"But they are obviously a home crowd and they are going to be a partisan crowd. Some of the stuff is not very nice, but that's just the way it is. Some people are idiots, especially when they drink.

"Nobody turns into a genius drinking, and that's what they were doing last week. Especially if you were out in the afternoon matches, it was loud."

He conceded it was difficult for the European players in many cases given the atmosphere - but was pleased with how he handled it.

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

"It's hard, but I tried to take it as best I could. I think I did, I think I performed okay.

"I don't think it's going to be like that in Rome. We will obviously have the home support, but we'll be hopefully winning a bit of a different way."

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