Europe’s Ryder Cup team uses VR headsets to prepare for noise and insults at Bethpage Black

Virginia Water, England – All that European players could face the Ryder Cup in New York could be what they have heard before, all due to virtual reality headsets which, according to Rory McILroy, can be adjusted to hear the hardest abuses.

Captain of the Ryder Cup, Luke Donald, said that his European team would be prepared for the noise of Bethpage Black, the public course with the reputation of having among the most refined and sometimes unpleasant golf fans.

McILroy told journalists on Sunday after the BMW PGA championship that Donald had given the players VR equipment on Tuesday evening after a team meeting. It allows players to visualize the route while adjusting the noise – and the insults – from outside the strings.

“It’s just to simulate views, sounds and noise,” said McILroy. “This is what we will face. It is therefore preferable to try to deviate as much as possible before entering it. You can make them say to what you want them to say.

“So you can approach the bone you wish.”

Europe had 11 players in Wentworth and headed for New York for Black Bethpage training. Sepp Straka was at home with a newborn baby last week and should join them.

Straka is one of the five European players who have never participated in Bethpage Black.

Europe won the Ryder Cup on American soil in 2012 in Medinah, which required a superb return led by Ian Poulter.

“We do everything we can to prepare for the best thing that it will feel on Friday week,” said McILroy. “But nothing can really prepare you until you are really there.

Europe can at least count on more support than its last Ryder Cup route. It was in 2021 in Whistling Straits, with travel restrictions worldwide from Covid-19 still in place. There were practically no European fans in an American rout.

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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf