Rory McIlroy reveals European players can chose their level of abuse – and claimed the insults are “Not for publication”
Rory McIlroy will lead the European team into the Ryder Cup later this month
Rory McIlroy has revealed the European team have been given Virtual Reality headsets with personalised abuse to prepare for raucous American fans at the Ryder Cup.
Luke Donald will take his team on a charter flight to New York after the BMW PGA on Sunday night for a two-day training camp at Bethpage Black.
But the European skipper has already started preparations to handle the atmosphere – with President Donald Trump scheduled to attend on the opening day – in the clash by handing his 12 men the VR sets at a team dinner on Tuesday.
And the Masters champion said that you can choose your own level of abuse and laughed: “You can go as close to the bone as you like!”
McIlroy explained: “The VR sets are to simulate the sites and sounds and noise. That’s the stuff that they are going to have to deal with. So it’s better to try to desensitise yourself as much as possible before you get in there.
“It is individual abuse. They said: ‘How far do you want this to go?’ And I said: ‘Go as far as you want’. You can get them to say whatever you want them to say. So you can go as close to the bone as you like.
“What did it say? You don’t want to know. Not for publication! Do I have thick skin? I’m trying to develop one! You know you’re not going to be up against not just a great team but the crowd as well. That brings it’s challenges.”
Rory McIlroy shows his emotions at the Ryder Cup – and confronted a US fan in 2016(Image: Naomi Baker, Getty Images)
McIlroy confronted an American fan – and had him ejected – for shouting abuse involving his former fiancee Caroline Wozniacki during the 2016 Ryder Cup.
“There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed but I think that was on me to not react the way that I did,” he admitted. “I understand that you have to do a better job of putting the blinkers on and not seeing and hearing everything out there as well. Yeah, it wasn’t a great comment but I shouldn’t have reacted.”
Asked if Europe can win the crowd over, the Ulsterman added: No, I don’t think so. It’s an American — the thing is we’re going to have more support in New York than we had in Whistling Straits just in terms of COVID isn’t a thing anymore. It’s definitely more of a cosmopolitan city, more of a melting pot and more backgrounds and people identify as part European or whatever it is. We should get a little more support but at the same time, you’re going to America with an American crowd.”
Rory McIlroy played the third rounds of the BMW PGA with his Ryder Cup team-mate Shane Lowry(Image: Getty Images)
McIlroy finished his final round before the Ryder Cup birdie-eagle to shoot a 65 and finish on 12-under par.
“I played much better,” said the world No.2. “I think you enjoy yourself a bit more when you play like that instead of the way I played the first three days. But yeah, I played the par 5s much better. That was the difference between the first three days and today. I’ve played the par 5s in 6-under, which I think got me back to under par for the par 5s for the week.
“I’m trying to get the crowd to cheer here and I’m trying to keep them as quiet as possible over in the States. It’s a bit of a different thing. The crowds last week in Ireland and this week were amazing, even teeing off at 7.45 in the morning and seeing so many people lined in the first fairway. It’s very cool to play in atmospheres like this, and it’s one of the reasons why I love coming back here to play.
“Obviously a really nice way to sign off the week, last competitive round going into the Ryder Cup. So nice to finish on a high.”
