Love predicts ‘noisy’ Ryder Cup

Captain marvels: Davis Love III (left) with European skipper Jose Maria Olazabal expects a loud Ryder Cup

American captain expects home crowd to give his side an advantage

Davis Love III has warned Europe’s Ryder Cup team to expect a noisy crowd cheering on the United States during this week’s match at Medinah.

Speaking in a joint press conference with opposite number Jose Maria Olazabal, the American captain has said that he expects lots of vociferous support from his team and that the Europeans should expect it to get pretty raucous out the course over the three days of competition.

“Chicago is an incredible sports town, and they are going to be fired up,” said Love, seeking to regain the Ryder Cup for the USA this week. “It’s an incredible, big golf course and a big stage, and I think the first tee could be the loudest any of these guys have ever seen to start off a golf tournament.  So I expect a lot of passion.

“I expect if we are winning holes, it’s going to get pretty loud out there, and that’s what the home‑field advantage is all about. That’s what you prepare the guys for. You have to tell them, ‘Hey, this is going to be something like you’ve never seen before’. We know what the good cheers sound like and what the bad cheers sound like. We’ll try to get them going loud in our favour.”

Even so, Love is adamant that the match will still retain its sporting integrity and fairness.

“We are fortunate to play a game and represent a game that is the model for all other sports,” said the 48-year-old former PGA champion. “It always has been. I think that’s what our commissioner has stressed in his whole tenure, that we are the model for other sports and we have to uphold that.

“We are fortunate that the Seve Ballesteroses and the players that came before us, down to my dad, they demanded that, that respect of the game, and to carry on traditions of the game.

“I think this match and the friendship that it begins with and the friendship that it ends with is different than any other sport.”

Olazabal echoed those sentiments, saying: “I think both teams respect each other a lot. Obviously, we are going to try to beat each other, no question about that. But we respect each member of our opponents’ team,

“With Davis and I, we have competed against each other quite a few times, not just in the Ryder Cup but in other events, and here we are sitting together and each one of us has a huge respect towards the other. So in that regard, I think the spirit is there.”

Love, as home captain, also has a major say in how the No.3 course at Medinah is set-up for the match and, without revealing too much, he did hint at some of the recommendations he has made with a view to this year’s match.

“One thing I’ve never liked is rough,” said the US skipper. “I just don’t like it. I think the fans want to see a little excitement. They want to see birdies. I think one thing about Valhalla , it was exciting. There were a lot of birdies. Even holes tied at birdies are more fun than six‑footers tying for par. We want to let these unbelievable athletes free‑wheel it a little bit and play.  Medinah is such a big, long golf course, and with the weather turning bad on us, I don’t think we wanted a lot of rough.

“It’s still going to be tough.  It’s a tough golf course.  But without the deep rough, saves us the chip‑outs and the grinding‑it‑out style of golf.  It will be a little bit more ‘freer’ than the two PGAs they have played here.

“We want some risk/reward, we want some guys to make some mistakes, and we want some guys to make some birdies and some eagles. I think that’s fun for the fans and fun for the players and it’ll be fun for this Ryder Cup.”