By John Huggan
In so many ways the Ryder Cup is a unique event. And the vast majority of those ways lead to a positive conclusion. Certainly, no other week on the golf calendar promotes as much raw excitement and passion as does the biennial contest between the Old and New Worlds. It is something for our game to be proud of.
Apart from one thing.
Sadly, the crowds here at Hazeltine National, while dominated by real and true fans with no agenda other than cheering for their team, contain a sizeable rogue element, one seemingly ignorant of golf’s peerless and traditional etiquette. Time and again this week the matches have been scarred by incidents that have more in common with football or soccer matches, so vitriolic and abusive have been the exchanges between spectators and players.
Much of the problems are, inevitably, alcohol-induced. The number of empty beer cans littering the premises is testimony to that unsavory truth. Besides, how else can we explain what happened on Saturday afternoon by the seventh green? It was there that a member of the gallery (let’s pray he isn’t a golfer) screamed, “Suck a d— Rory!”
#RyderCup gallery, take note… https://t.co/AbcMjQwUSz
— PGA News Feed (@PGANewsFeed) October 1, 2016
In the 45 seconds or so before the security men hauled away the miscreant, McIlroy was up to the challenge. “If you want to back that up, I’m right here,” said the young Irishman.
More amusing is the old line that says, “If it wasn’t for us [America], you [Europeans] would all be speaking German.” Which is fair enough, except when it is directed at former U.S. Open and PGA champion Martin Kaymer, a native of Dusseldorf.
Then there was the young English couple standing by the seventh fairway. On Friday they had witnessed one of the frequent attacks on Sergio Garcia, the European who, until McIlroy emerged as his vociferous equal this week, displays most openly his pleasure at beating Uncle Sam’s nephews. “You’re f—ing useless Sergio,” said one “fan.” “You’ll never win a major.”
And so it goes on, with no obvious solution. Or maybe there is, at least on those occasions when a player is disturbed by heckling while standing over a ball ready to putt. When and if that happens, the putt should immediately be conceded by the opponent. Knowing that any attempt to distract will be counter-productive is perhaps the only way to counteract this cancer that pervades the Ryder Cup.
