Colin Montgomerie criticised American fan culture at golf events after a loud and rowdy US Open.

Rory McIlroy’s heartbreaking short miss at the last hole was met with chants of ‘USA’ – which continued as he stood over his next shot.

Even winner Bryson DeChambeau urged the crowd to be quiet as playing partner Matthieu Pavon marked his ball on the 72^nd hole.

It sparked a furious rant from talkSPORT host and broadcasting legend Jeff Stelling, who said on Monday morning: “When Rory missed the tiddler at the last and the crowd were chanting ‘USA, USA’, I thought, ‘What muppets’.

“Really, there is no place for that. Rory was absolutely devastated. And to hear these clowns, fuelled by alcohol, chanting at the side… It was nonsense.”

And Scottish legend Montgomerie suggests American golf crowds do not respect the etiquette of the game.

He told talkSPORT.com: “The American fans that attend a golf tournament are not generally golfers. You get The Open, or a Scottish or an Irish event, and it’s usually golfers who attend those events. They appreciate and understand the etiquette of the game.

“In America, it’s not. It’s a lot of baseball fans and football fans who have been drinking all day and love to shout the word ‘USA’.

“It’s not really golf. It’s not the etiquette of the game. It’s very anti rest of the world. America feel like they are the best and the loudest. They certainly are the loudest.”

Montgomerie often hit out at over-exuberant hecklers during his prime, particularly in the States, where he once described the atmosphere as ‘hellish’.

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Earlier this year, ex-USA Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson confronted fans at the Phoenix Open for getting out of control.

The topic of fan behaviour will move into sharper focus when the 2025 Ryder Cup rolls into New York’s Brookline, which has a reputation for noise.

Montgomerie added: “I had that through my career. When you become a threat like I became, and Rory is, and [Sir Nick] Faldo can attest to this – he never won the US Open and there probably was a crowd element to that as well.

“It’s very difficult to play a course of that difficulty, you get the odd unlucky break, and you’ve got the word ‘USA’ being sang in your ear for five hours, it’s hard work.

“I always felt winning in America was harder than anywhere else because of that.

“Leave it for the Ryder Cup and let’s congratulate and celebrate good golf, as opposed to what goes on behind the scenes.

“I think Ludvig Aberg suffered on Saturday, playing with Bryson, he hadn’t had that feeling before.

“And I’m sure Pavon had that issue. Bryson was jeering up the crowd, of course, because that was how he was going to win, with the support of the crowd behind him.

“But we don’t get that in Britain. We celebrate good golf, whoever it might be.”

Montgomerie spoke to talkSPORT.com on behalf of Loch Lomond Whiskey, the official spirit of The Open. Monty has collaborated with Loch Lomond Whiskey to create The Open Special Edition.