Sweden’s Henrik Stenson says it will be better to play the Ryder Cup without the presence of spectators than not to play the event at all.
Speaking on his Almost an Hour podcast, presented by Callaway Golf, Stenson said that should it be impossible to postpone this year’s edition of the Ryder Cup then players will have to accept the fate of playing it in front of empty galleries.
Stricker also desperate for fans
The Covid-19 pandemic has jeopardised preparations for the event, which gets under way at Whistling Straits on 28 September.
One big issue, however, stands out for the players and that is whether or not fans will be permitted to attend with Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Lee Westwood calling for the event to be postponed in order to allow fans to attend the Ryder Cup.
‘For the atmosphere and for the feeling, for us as players that would be, very blunt, it would be something that you can’t really imagine at this point,’ said Stenson.
‘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 crowds, with fans, then I would prefer to play a Ryder Cup than to not play a Ryder Cup.’
2013 US Open champion Justin Rose also emphasised the change golf is about to experience once it returns to the courses by saying playing without fans could then be the new normal for the game.
‘We might actually be used to it [no crowds] by then. It might almost be interesting if the Ryder Cup is the first event with fans,’ Rose told Golf.com.
‘Who knows how the summer is gonna play out? The thought of a Ryder Cup without fans is mind-blowing, but what is the new normal? Would we rather still have the opportunity to play? You can’t just bump everything to 2021 because 2021 becomes chaos if that’s the case.
‘In one way, it could be more intense between the two players. There’s nowhere to hide, nowhere else to look. You know, it’s eyeball to eyeball. It could create a bizarrely intense environment.’
