One week until the Ryder Cup kicks off and the tension is rising. Lanny Wadkins, Major winner, eight-time player on the American Ryder Cup team and captain in 1995, has reignited the eternal debate about the atmosphere in the stands.
Speaking on the Golf Today programme on Golf Channel, Wadkins recalled some episodes experienced at The Belfry in the 80s. “In 1985 I was introduced on the 1st tee and what I received were boos. And four years later, when I chipped in for eagle on the 18th, there were five or six rows of spectators behind the green, all with their arms crossed, silent. They wanted me to miss,” he recounted.
The debate about the stands has resurfaced after Rory McIlroy mentioned last week at Wentworth that the European captain, Luke Donald, has given his players virtual reality glasses to simulate the noise they will face at Bethpage Black. “It’s better to try to desensitise as much as possible before getting there,” explained the Northern Irishman.
Wadkins, for his part, has called for a vote of confidence in the American public. “They’ve always been loud, but they’ve never crossed the line. What I find curious is that we never say anything about what we experience in Europe,” he pointed out. And then, he launched the jab that has gone around the world: “We get the same treatment there. We just don’t complain. Sometimes I think the Europeans are a bunch of softies who can’t handle the pressure.”
The Ryder Cup will kick off next Friday at Bethpage Black and, it seems, the duel has already begun.
