GET ON WITH IT
All sport is behind closed doors so why should golf be different says McGinley
FORMER European captain Paul McGinley believes it is a “lame excuse” to oppose playing the Ryder Cup because of a lack of atmosphere without crowds.
American skipper Steve Stricker this week said he would hate to hold the biennial clash in his home state of Wisconsin behind closed doors.
“This event is made by the fans. It would almost be a yawner without them,” he said.
“To cheat out the Wisconsin fans would be a crime. I hope when we do have it, it can be up to its full potential.”
And the top three players in the world – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka – have all helped set the agenda by saying they do not want to play without the usual raucous atmosphere, while golf authorities have remained silent on the issue.
European Tour boss Keith Pelley has promised a decision by the end of the month. But now McGinley, who sits on the European Ryder Cup Committee, is leading a counter-offensive in a bid to see the competition going ahead at Whistling Straits this September as planned.
Before the return of the PGA Tour at the Charles Schwab Challenge next week, the victorious 2014 captain told Kingdom Magazine: “I’ll say this strongly.
“For the players to say that without a crowd, without the atmosphere, that we can’t have a Ryder Cup, that’s a lame excuse in the current climate. I don’t want to hear it.
“If we are going to cancel the Ryder Cup I want to see it cancelled for the right reasons and not because the players won’t be able to play in front of a crowd.
“Every other sport is going to be played without crowds.The NBA is making plans to play behind closed doors, the Premier League is going to continue behind closed doors and so are other sports. The right reasons to cancel could be health and safety concerns, financial issues or government regulations.
“But cancelling because of a lack of crowds and atmosphere in these times – when every other sport is playing their biggest events behind closed doors – would reflect badly on the sport of golf.
“We need to move away from the narrative about atmosphere.”
Former Open champion Henrik Stenson, who has played in five Ryder Cups, has become the first top player to say he would rather tee up behind closed doors than not at all.
The Swede said: “For the atmosphere and for the feeling, it would be something that you can’t really imagine at this point.
“But then looking at the bigger picture, if that’s the only way that the Ryder Cup can go ahead, and if it’s not an option to play it next year with the crowds, with fans, then I would prefer to play a Ryder Cup than to not play a Ryder Cup at all.”