Ryder Cup: Europe went to great lengths to prepare for a rowdy New York crowd, including using VR headsets

BETHPAGE, N.Y. — No matter the setting, it’s impossible for a virtual reality headset to replicate the energy, noise and chirps that will be heard by the European Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black.

Luke Donald tried, though, as Rory McIlroy revealed earlier this month. In the lead-up to the Ryder Cup, which begins Friday at Bethpage Black on Long Island, Donald, the European team captain, gave his players VR headsets that simulated the expected crowd noise while visualizing playing at Bethpage.

“It is just to simulate the sights and sounds and noise,” McIlroy said ahead of the BMW PGA Championship. “That’s the stuff that we are going to have to deal with. So it’s better to try to de-sensitize yourself as much as possible before you get in there. You can get them to say whatever you want them to say. So you can go as close to the bone as you like.”

[Yahoo Sports TV is here! Watch live shows and highlights 24/7]

The idea received mixed reviews from members of the European side. Rasmus Højgaard called it “a fun little gimmick,” while Justin Rose said he didn’t use the VR headset “more than five minutes” and his kids spent more time with it checking out visuals of the course.

Jon Rahm, meanwhile, was almost disappointed with the virtual heckling.

“I don't think that we're creative enough in those VR goggles to what we're going to hear this week, so far what we've heard in practice rounds,” Rahm said Thursday.

For Viktor Hovland, nothing said to him by rowdy U.S. fans will compare to what’s going on in his mind during matches.

"I think you've just got to stick to your game, and if you play well, you know, there's going to be some comments here and there,” Hovland said. “They won't really come close to the thoughts that I have in my own head. So I think I'll just laugh it off for the most part. You know, just try to smile it off and make a few birdies. That usually seems to do the trick.”

Harry How via Getty Images

Fans arrived at Bethpage Black on Tuesday as players from the U.S. and Europe continued their practice rounds. There were oohs and ahhs for good shots; cheers for those of the impressive variety; and playful interactions between the players and crowd. But come Friday morning, the temperature will rise and it will become a partisan crowd. McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood may have large swaths of support when they’re on the PGA Tour, but the Ryder Cup is a different beast.

The light-hearted vibe around Bethpage Black this week led to Collin Morikawa labeling the crowds as “tame” during practice rounds. Most of the energy in the air was contained within the thunderstorms that threatened to disrupt Thursday's preparations on Long Island. When the clock strikes 7:10 a.m. ET on Friday as morning foursomes and the Ryder Cup officially begins, he hopes the estimated 50,000 fans in attendance make the scene "absolute chaos" and the U.S. team can use that to their benefit.

Cameron Young knows what to expect from the crowd. Having grown up about 60 miles from Bethpage Black, he's familiar with the course after winning the 2017 New York State Open there as an amateur. He also understands the mentality of the New York sports fan.

“It's just a very intense group of people, I feel,” Young said this week. “They love to win. They love their teams when they win. I think that is what gets a group like this going.”

David Davies - PA Images via Getty Images

Amid the crowd discussion has been an underlying fear that some of it may go overboard. Lubricated fans and an intense, partisan sporting event can lead to ugly scenes. McIlroy told Ewan Murray of The Guardian recently that he feels it’s “inevitable something is going to happen."

“I just think when you go into that environment and you are there for five or six days and the crowd are on you for eight hours, so many days in a row,” McIlroy said, “it is inevitable it will get to someone or get to us as a group at some point. We are just going to have to do a really good job of managing that, having each other’s backs and protecting each other.”

The European team is aware of how intense the environment might get at Bethpage Black. Matt Fitzpatrick said Thursday his parents will be staying home partly because they want to prepare for next week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am, but also because of their experience during the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits where they overheard a fan yell, "Slit his throat, [Daniel] Berger," during one of his matches. Shane Lowry also said his wife received “dog’s abuse” from U.S. fans.

Players on both sides have talked this week about what the Ryder Cup can bring out of themselves, as well as the fans. And while they’ve acknowledged that energetic celebrations and the back-and-forth trash talk are part of what makes the event great, there’s also a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

“There's so much noise that it's kind of hard to — you can't hear all of it,” said Justin Thomas. “You definitely hear some stuff. It's tough. I go back and forth because there's a part of me that's like, we're put in this arena, it's maybe a little bit more so than it was my first couple years on Tour of being more vocal, fans being more vocal.

“... Look, if we're not playing well and you're talking trash about us, we probably deserve it. But if you start getting into the loved ones, that's I think when everybody starts really kind of getting a little bit chippy."

Ryder Cup week is known as the “longest week in golf” as the build up only intensifies once players begin arriving on site on Monday and respond to questions about what to expect at the weekend. Four days of practice rounds, three of which involve fans, give the players somewhat of an idea as to what the scene will be like during the three days of competition. 

Virtual headsets and practice rounds can only do so much to prepare players. Come Friday morning, the stands will be full, the holes will be lined with layers of fans and the noise will be much different than what you'll find during a normal golf season. How one reacts to that sensory overload could ultimately affect the end result.

"We are doing everything we can to best prepare ourselves for what it is going to feel like on Friday week," McIlroy said. "But nothing can really prepare you until you're actually in that. You can wear all the VR headsets you want and do all the different things we've been trying to do to get ourselves ready, but once the first tee comes on Friday, it's real, and we just have to deal with whatever's given."