AR
Collin Morikawa would like the New York sports crowd to live up to its reputation.
The behaviour from fans is expected to be a storyline this weekend at Bethpage Black, a fusion of what has happened at this course in the past and the Ryder Cup’s penchant for turning golf galleries very provincial. However, speaking to the media on Wednesday, Morikawa sounded a bit disappointed in what he’s seen so far, imploring those who attend the tournament to bring the noise.
“I’ll be honest, I think it’s kind of tame so far,” Morikawa said. “I know tomorrow is going to be pretty bad [weather] but I hope Friday is just absolute chaos. I’m all for it. I think it feeds into who we are and the American players and the American team. We want it. Like we want to use that to our advantage.”
Morikawa isn’t wrong. Through the first three days at the “People’s Country Club,” the people have been mostly quiet, and fans have congregated around the 15th-through-18th stretch and left the rest of the course empty. Which is understandable; ultimately what is transpiring is just practice. Still, given the fears that the crowds could cross a line, so far they haven’t come anyway close.
“I think every sport uses their home crowd to their advantage, and just because we don’t play in a setting like this doesn’t mean the craziness of New York and the rest of the country that people are travelling in from, it doesn’t mean that we can’t use that to our advantage,” Morikawa continued. “I think we really have to tap into that. I hope they come strong.
“Watching all these kids, I know they want autographs, but come Friday, I hope they go crazy.”
Near 50,000 fans are expected to be on property Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Bethpage, including the President of the United States. As Morikawa said, it’s partially the fans that give this event the meaning that it does. “I think these weeks just pull out the best in you. Especially when you have a home crowd like this and people are cheering you on and you want to just hit great shots, sometimes your focus gets that much more intentional,” Morikawa said. “And when intentions match kind of what you’re trying to accomplish, it sometimes comes together. So these weeks are a moment for that, and you want to step up to the plate and you don’t want to let not just the team down but the rest of the country, essentially, that are rooting you on.”
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Main Image: Jamie Squire
