It’s the one time of the year in golf that there is an us and them. It’s the only event where the crowd can play a part in determining which side wins. It’s also the one championship (outside of Phoenix) where fans can go over the edge of decency and into debauchery.
The Ryder Cup has become the event where the fans most closely resemble those at a European soccer match or perhaps an NFL game. There are songs and chants – sometimes humorous, sometimes offside – that get louder as the day goes on. At the last Ryder Cup in Rome, Patrick Cantlay, who refused to wear a hat, was serenaded by fans who came up with a song about the lack of headwear.
And like those two other sporting events, they often go beyond the normal boundaries of decency. The only difference with a Champions League match or Monday Night Football is that in golf, the fans are often only an arm’s length from the players.
For the most part, the cheering is good-natured, sometimes funny and mostly onside. But more and more as the years go on, it has gone over the edge, past a normal golf standard.
“It’s the most extreme atmosphere that we get,” said Tommy Fleetwood. “But crowd is such a huge part of the Ryder Cup.”
It can even play a role in deciding who gets to raise the trophy. Winning on foreign soil is difficult enough, but when the fans lean in, it’s almost as if the home side has a 13th player.
It has become such a factor that this year, European captain Luke Donald used a number of methods to prepare his 12 players for just what is heading their way.
At one practice round, he hired a comedian to heckle the golfers as they played, trying to distract them from their focus. He also gave each golfer a set of virtual reality goggles that showed what the atmosphere would be like around the first and 18th holes. This week, athletes from other sports have come into to talk to the 12 Euro golfers about what it’s like to play before a hostile throng and how to handle it.
“The crowd factor is certainly one aspect that I’ve been looking at,” stated Donald, “but I’ve been trying to look at this from a very different angle, and that’s just one element of the preparation that’s going into kind of making sure that these guys are ready for and to be prepared to be at their best because that’s what they’re going to need this week.”
It can even be fun with players getting a laugh out of comments thrown their way.
“There’s always going to be a little bit of chirping going on,” said Ludvig Aberg, who is making his second Ryder Cup start this week. “And I think it’s a part of sports. It’s a part of athletics. That’s what makes it fun. That’s what brings out these tournaments, and that’s why we all love it.”
On the other side of the yelling and chanting, the American team wants to hear more, to use it as motivation and a way to get under the skin of the Europeans
“I think every sport uses their home crowd to their advantage,” said Collin Morikawa, “and just because we don’t play in a setting like this doesn’t mean the craziness of New York and the rest of the country that people are traveling in from, it doesn’t mean that we can’t use that to our advantage. I think we really have to tap into that. I hope they come strong.”
The extreme partisan fans truly became a significant part of the Ryder Cup in 1991 at what became known as the War By The Shore, an event that was held in Kiawah Island and decided by the final putt, which Bernard Langer missed, giving the U.S. the cup.
Prior to that there was a heated debate between Paul Azinger and Seve Ballesteros about a scuffed ball that Azinger wanted to replace. Ballesteros disagreed, preventing the change and the temperatures soared.
The relationship between the two hot-tempered golfers was never repaired. Ballesteros famously referred to the American team as 11 nice guys and Azinger, while the Spaniard was noted for his obvious attempts to distract his opponents by jingling change in his pockets.
At the 2016 Ryder Cup, Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy ignited the fans with a back-and-forth match that saw McIlroy drain a monster long putt. The crowd responded by booing him, so the Northern Irishman put his hand to his ear and yelled out that he couldn’t hear them. When the American sunk a long putt of his own he wagged his finger at McIlroy in a Dikembe Mutombo-like fashion, igniting the cheering for him.
This year’s Ryder Cup is expected to be loud. Being played in the New York area where fans are exceptionally passionate at a course that has seen some borderline cheering at past U.S. Opens, anything can happen.
However, one factor that may lead to a quieter crowd is the cost. With single-day tickets on StubHub now selling for $1,000 (U.S.) and a significant number of spectators coming through corporate sales, the fans could be quieter. Beer selling at $15 a can might also tame the chanting.
For one week at the Ryder Cup, the fans can shout and cheer and chirp like no other golf tournament, and maybe even play a part in deciding who wins.
