McIlroy Reveals European Team Using VR Headsets to Prepare for Bethpage Crowd
The European Ryder Cup team is using virtual reality headsets to prepare for what’s likely to be a hostile New York crowd at Bethpage Black. Rory McIlroy shared that captain Luke Donald distributed the VR equipment Tuesday night following a team gathering.
The technology allows players to visualize the course while experiencing simulated crowd noise — including insults — that they might face during the competition.
“It is just to simulate the sights and sounds and noise,” McIlroy told reporters after Sunday’s BMW PGA Championship. “That’s the stuff that we are going to have to deal with. So it’s better to try to de-sensitize yourself as much as possible before you get in there. You can get them to say whatever you want them to say.
“So you can go as close to the bone as you like.”
Bethpage Black, a public course in New York, has earned a reputation for having some of the rowdiest golf fans in the sport. Donald has made it clear he wants his team prepared for the noise level they’ll encounter.
Europe’s 11 players at Wentworth are now headed to New York for practice rounds at Bethpage. Sepp Straka, who missed last week’s gathering while at home with a newborn, is expected to join the team. He’s one of five Europeans who’ve never competed at Bethpage Black.
The team hasn’t won on American soil since their dramatic comeback at Medinah in 2012, led by Ian Poulter.
McIlroy acknowledges that while the VR training helps, nothing can fully prepare them for the real thing.
“We are doing everything we can to best prepare ourselves for what it is going to feel like on Friday week,” he said. “But nothing can really prepare you until you’re actually in that. You can wear all the VR headsets you want and do all the different things we’ve been trying to do to get ourselves ready but once the first tee comes on Friday it’s real and we just have to deal with whatever’s given.”
At least the Europeans can count on more fan support than their last away Ryder Cup. The 2021 event at Whistling Straits took place during COVID-19 travel restrictions, leaving them with hardly any European fans in attendance during America’s dominant victory.
