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The Ryder Cup is scheduled to take place Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin and while that’s still four months down the road, the PGA of America is discussing the scenario of playing the event without spectators.
The Ryder Cup is without question one of the most well-attended major sporting events in the world, but with uncertainties still far outweighing actual certainties at the moment, preparation for a fan-less Ryder Cup makes sense. The PGA of America has specifically had talks about creating some sort of virtual fan experience.
“It’s hard to imagine one without fans,” PGA CEO Seth Waugh said on WFAN. “We have begun to talk about whether you could create some virtual fan experience, and we’re going to try to be as creative as we can. It’s [still] to be determined, frankly, whether you could hold it without fans or not.”
The PGA Tour has already announced its plans to resume play in mid-June at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas with the first four events of the new-look schedule taking place without fans. Those first four events could certainly serve as a benchmark of what may come about regarding the Ryder Cup, despite the fact the Cup would draw a much larger crowd.
The Ryder Cup is an extremely unique event, one in which the fans add to the overall experience in a major, major way. You have fans actively booing players, chants breaking out on the first tee and celebrations between player and fan throughout the week.
Imagining a PGA Tour event being played without fans is one thing, hell, even the thought of playing a major without fans isn’t the wildest idea, but a Ryder Cup without fans wouldn’t look, feel, or sound right at all.