During the Ryder Cup, there was a major issue that happened not with the teams but with the crowds.  Whenever the European team was up to play, the US spectators started shouting, booing, and heckling the players.  It was bad enough that Rory McIlroy feels like the focus post-tournament has been on the hecklers rather than the game itself.  Now the heads of the R&A and the Masters have started calling for the Ryder Cup to address the problem.

The Crowds At Bethpage

The crowds at Bethpage were rough.  Ahead of the tournament, Collin Morikawa put out a statement saying, “I hope they go crazy.”  It seems that fans interpreted this as a message to give the Euro team a hard time.  Morikawa later put out a statement saying that he just wanted to get the crowd hyped for the event.  He doesn’t take the responsibility for what happened.  Yet the crowds persisted.  Eventually, penalties were handed out to the spectators who engaged in the noise.  Especially after the European team began to refuse to play when the crowds got too loud.  

After The Ryder Cup

It has now been a month since the Ryder Cup, and fans are still talking about the hecklers at the tournament.  Now, other event heads are looking at the Ryder Cup and are calling for action to be taken.  This includes R&A head Mark Darbon and Masters head Fred Ridley.  The argument goes back to golf being considered a gentleman’s sport.  There is a level of respect expected for all parties involved.  This is the sport that coined the term “golf clap.”  On Thursday at the Asia Amateur Championship, Fred Ridley was asked about the Ryder Cup.  He started out saying that he was glad the event was getting more popular and competitive.  He just wasn’t happy with the hecklers.

“I don’t think that anyone was particularly happy with what happened this year,” Ridley continued. “I think it just reminds us, as custodians of the game, of the responsibility that we have to perpetuate its underlying values. And I think hopefully that this is something we’re going to focus on more, and because that’s part of what makes golf special is that it is a different sort of set of rules, if you will. It’s something I think we need to work on, and it’s something I think I hope everyone involved with the game will reflect on.”

Mark Darbon had a very similar opinion on the Ryder Cup and agrees that there should be a higher expectation of attitude at such a tournament.  The Master’s is a major that strictly upholds those standards.

The Next Ryder Cup

Both heads have brought up the same thing about the sport of golf.  There is a set of underlying values that are expected to be followed by all parties.  This year, whenever a player had an outburst, he was expected to make up for it and apologize as soon as possible.  Any fans who saw it thought it was disgraceful to the sport to throw clubs or swing at the ground.  The two heads are happy that more passionate fans are coming into the sport, but the values of respect and sportsmanship are critical for the sport.

 

Main Photo Credit: © Peter Casey-Imagn Images