Organizers for the '18 Ryder Cup at France’s Le Golf National course "expect to attract even more fans" than Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., hosted last week, according to Christopher Clarey of the N.Y. TIMES. French Ryder Cup Organizing Committee President Pascal Grizot said, "We are looking at 60,000 to 65,000 per day." Clarey notes that is "quite a number for a course that attracted only about 60,000 spectators for the four rounds of this year’s French Open." However, this will be the first Ryder Cup to be "contested near a major European capital" -- Le Golf National is about an hour outside Paris -- and the course was "designed as a stadium course." Fans are "expected to travel from all over Europe, above all Britain, to attend the matches." It "remains to be seen (and heard) how crowds that big will treat the Americans after some of the heckling that was directed at the European stars" at Hazeltine. The French "wanted the Ryder Cup for a number of reasons but above all to build the game’s popularity and to alter the longstanding view of the sport in France as elitist." Putting the Ryder Cup in France is "part of a two-stage push onto the continent by the European Tour, which awarded" the '22 Ryder Cup to the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club outside Rome (N.Y. TIMES, 10/4).
THE CROWD GOES WILD: U.S. team member Patrick Reed called the crowds at Hazeltine "insane" and said, "It's so cool to see all the Americans come together and be one." Reed: "Walking up those fairways and hearing 40 and 50 rows deep just chanting your name and trying to pick you up because they know how important every match is. It was amazing" ("SportsCenter,” ESPN, 10/3). FS1’s Jason Whitlock said regular golf events "should be this fun," as they need "more hooping and hollering” (“Speak for Yourself,” FS1, 10/3). Several European players were heckled by fans at Hazeltine over the weekend, but ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez said he did not have a "big problem with the U.S. fans being a little bit over the top" with players like Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia. Gutierrez: "It was such a small percentage and, frankly, let's look at all these other sports. There's going to be that and a lot worse said at football games, baseball games, etc." ESPN's J.A. Adande noted there are “still golf rules of etiquette that should apply to the fans, as well as the players." Adande: "This is not football or baseball. ... People don't know the boundaries. The level of discourse has dropped so low in this country” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 10/3).
SPORTS AT ITS BEST: ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said the Ryder Cup was “one of the most exciting sporting events I’ve ever seen.” ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said, “It’s as good as you can get in golf, other than the majors.” Kornheiser said the McIlroy-Patrick Reed pairing that led off Sunday's singles matches was “fantastic theater." Kornheiser: "I understand it’s golf and it can’t compete the NFL -- I get that -- but it was thrilling to watch” (“PTI,” ESPN, 10/3). ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan said the “theater of Reed and McIlroy was as good as anything I've ever seen in golf." She cited the two "going back and forth" with making long putts and the "trash talking" between them ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 10/3).
