Rory McIlroy appears to make offensive gesture towards the crowd at Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy appeared to make an offensive gesture towards the crowd on the opening day of the Ryder Cup.

The Northern Irishman was seen raising a finger on his left hand as he walked off the 11th green during his afternoon fourballs match.

He and his partner Shane Lowry had just gone two up against Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay when he appeared to respond to something in the crowd.

It is currently not known what provoked the gesture.

Earlier European Robert MacIntyre had a spat with an American member of the crowd following a comment made about his weight on the 17th tee.

Much had been made of the Bethpage Black crowd in the build-up to the tournament and how they were expected to make it a hostile “bear pit”.

But McIlroy had helped keep them largely quiet as he enjoyed an excellent opening morning of the 45th Ryder Cup as Europe were in a strong position.

He continued his winning record with Tommy Fleetwood in the morning foursomes, celebrating a commanding 5&4 victory over Collin Morikawa and Harris English, which helped give Europe a 3-1 lead.

Partnering his friend Lowry, the Irish pair were in a strong position at 2 up after 11 but were pegged back to all square heading into the final few holes.