At Whistling Straits in 2021, Padraig Harrington was captain to Europe’s biggest defeat in the Ryder Cup since 1967, with Team USA drubbing the Europeans 19-9 in Wisconsin.
It’s no secret that the environment from the crowd was rather hostile that week, that was despite the fact that Harrington tried to get on the US crowds’ side by dressing in the team colours of the Green Bay Packers and wearing cheeseheads, the nickname for Green Bay Packers’ fans who are based an hour or so from Whistling Straits.
However, it’s not just the American crowds who have been slightly hostile, with Harrington revealing in an interview with the Telegraph Sport that: “Some of the US team have said to me that they’ve got some inappropriate stick in Ryder Cups over here and we should bear that in mind in Rome.”
He went on to add the problem is “now bigger than ever… I wish I could say it is one-way traffic, but it isn’t and we should realise that and look at our own backyard as well… It’s not just the players either. The same as in America, the wives and families are being singled out by hecklers as well, with some pretty awful stuff going on.
“I’ve heard of people even being spat at and some of the taunting is unrepeatable. It’s reached the stage now that relatives must even wonder if they should go out on to the course. It should be a nice, proud experience for them, but that’s proving not the case.”
Since 2014, the home team have won the Ryder Cup, with one of the reasons potentially down to the influence of the crowds. At Hazeltine in 2016, Harrington claimed that “Rory (McIlroy) almost jumped into the crowd,” following an awful slur from a rowdy fan.
“We have seen a run of Ryder Cups in which the home side has won easily and although I think this does have something to do with the home captain getting his own set-up, I’ve started to believe it’s as much to do with the hostile atmospheres the visitors have to face,” stated Harrington, who then claimed “I have no idea how to solve this.”
Luke Donald and Harrington chat during the 2021 Ryder Cup
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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