Ryder Cup minus on-site fans, or even a 2021 date is possible

By Rahul Banerji

There are competitions that are by definition, fan-powered, capable of raising extreme emotion. The Davis Cup in tennis and the soccer World Cup are examples. And In golf, there’s the Ryder Cup.

It is an umbilical connection, the one between the watching public and a Ryder Cup competition. To have the competition without a watching – and massively supportive – public is effectively wiping it out as a spectacle.

The USA at home are a force in these days of evenly-matched talent on either side of the Atlantic thanks to their vociferous fans.  Interestingly, Europe have more than held their own despite being a selection from a host of different flags.

Shock talk

So when talk emerged recently that the September 25 to 28 contest in Wisconsin may be minus spectators thanks to the corona-virus pandemic, it induced a bit of a jolt. Imagine Virat Kohli’s Men in Blue taking on Australia or South Africa in an empty stadium.

Europe’s biggest star and world number one, Rory McIlroy has come out strongly against empty and silent galleries at Whistling Strait, venue of this year’s competition.

“It wouldn’t be a great spectacle, there’d be no atmosphere,” the Northern Irishman said on a live OTT event with TaylorMade. “A Ryder Cup without fans is not a Ryder Cup.”\

“If it came to whether they had to choose between not playing the event or playing it without fans, I would say just delay it a year and play it in 2021.

‘Not a Ryder Cup’

“Obviously it would be better for the Europeans to play without fans because we wouldn’t have to deal with some of the stuff you have to put up with, but at the same time it’s not a Ryder Cup,” he added.

Europe captain Padraig Harrington and likely team-mates Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari have aired similar views.

For its part, this year’s host, the PGA of America is pressing on with plans to hold the Ryder Cup on schedule even if it is without spectators.

According to PGA of America chief executive Seth Waugh, who was speaking on radio, “We have begun to talk about whether you could create some virtual fan experience, and we’re going to try to be as creative as we can.

“I’m not suggesting it doesn’t change the experience, but in the Ryder Cup it’s particularly important. We’ll be very careful about that. It’s a very unique thing.”

“It’s to be determined, frankly, whether you could hold it without fans or not. Fans are the Ryder Cup, to a certain degree, and it’s hard to imagine one without fans.”

Top backing

That is, of the Ryder Cup can be played at all this year with the Covid-19 menace showing no signs of receding. US president Donald Trump is keen to use golf as a vehicle to push for reopening the country gradually so in that sense, the PGA of America has support from the very top.

In an interview with the BBC, Europe captain Harrington said he was not keen on playing in front of empty galleries.

“I was told categorically that it would not be the case that the Ryder Cup could be played behind closed doors.

“Now it has arisen again because of what may be happening on the PGA Tour, but I was told not to go down that road. It is ‘above my pay grade’ and it is a hypothetical situation. But everything is changing all the time.”

Shifting the event to 2021 has its own set of problems in that the Tokyo Olympics have already been shifted. Also, the Presidents Cup too is set for next year which could mean a calendar and scheduling overload for the players.

Also read: Three majors and the Ryder Cup on as golf scrambles to find fresh dates