By Frank Pingue FARMINGDALE, New York (Reuters) -Europe’s Ryder Cup preparations for hostile American crowds included virtual reality headsets but Jon Rahm discovered this week that no amount of technology can replicate the boundaries New York fans are willing to cross. The VR headsets allowed for personalised abuse to help golfers desensitise themselves for the […]
Sports
Golf-VR headsets no match for creative New York crowd at Ryder Cup, says Rahm
Audio By Carbonatix
By Frank Pingue
FARMINGDALE, New York (Reuters) -Europe’s Ryder Cup preparations for hostile American crowds included virtual reality headsets but Jon Rahm discovered this week that no amount of technology can replicate the boundaries New York fans are willing to cross.
The VR headsets allowed for personalised abuse to help golfers desensitise themselves for the Ryder Cup cauldron but Rahm said the real thing has already far exceeded their digital expectations during practice rounds.
“I don’t think that we’re creative enough in those VR goggles to what we’re going to hear this week, so far what we’ve heard in practice rounds,” Rahm said on Thursday ahead of his fourth Ryder Cup appearance.
The twice major champion has quickly learned that fans at Bethpage Black have an inventiveness that even sophisticated technology cannot anticipate, with hecklers already targeting him with references to weight-loss drugs during practice.
“Yeah, first shot in the practice rounds, yeah. I don’t know exactly what he said, but I think what he said was — what did he say? He either said, ‘Hey, Rahm, where is the Ozempic?’ Or ‘When’s Ozempic?’ Something ‘Ozempic.’ I just don’t know what word exactly. It was funny,” Rahm said.
But rather than being rattled by the creative heckling, the Spaniard appears to be embracing the passionate atmosphere that New York crowds are famous for delivering.
The 29-year-old also acknowledged that while the atmosphere has remained relatively lighthearted during practice this week, he expected the intensity to ramp up significantly once the three-day competition begins on Friday.
“We have all been in a home game trying to say some things about the away team, right, but some people come up with some things that I would never in a million years come up with, and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of,” said Rahm.
“So far, the humour that’s been there, it’s really funny. I would imagine tomorrow things might turn a little bit but there’s always funny ones, and not only towards me, towards everybody.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Ken Ferris)