A Ryder Cup Behind Closed Doors Might Be An Unpopular Necessity

Debate about the immediate future prospects of the Ryder Cup continues to rage in the golf world, with the authorities and stars of the sport conflicted about the idea of playing the biennial match behind closed doors.

The PGA Tour remains committed to a return to action in June with the first four tournaments scheduled to be played in front of no spectators, but the notion of golf’s most raucous event following suit has appalled many, for whom it is close to sacrilege.

However, dark financial shadows hang over the sport and these might force the hand of organisers.

Perhaps the most compelling of these complications is the brutal fact that the European Tour is to a large degree bank-rolled by the Ryder Cup; the revenue it creates being vital to the on-going viability of the Tour.

European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley is wrestling with many problems at the moment, not least the widespread loss of many tournaments, and, unlike PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, he has opted not to reveal plans for a return to action, preferring a patient policy to a forcing one.

But he is well aware that the Ryder Cup will be a vital tool in the rebuilding of the Tour’s finances. If it is played this year it will provide an income of some sort; on the other hand a delayed edition would hopefully include full spectator and corporate income which a restricted version this year might not.

The 2020 match is set to be hosted by Whistling Straits (September 25-27), an American home tie therefore, so not the bounty of a European-hosted event, but perhaps the potential delay of the next home match is another idea fraught with difficulty for the Europeans.

All of these considerations will be causing significant headaches at the Tour’s Wentworth base, but none of it has quelled the speculation.

“I have a pretty strong view on this,” world number one Rory McIlroy insisted in an Instagram Live event with his sponsor TaylorMade.

“I get the financial implications for everyone involved. There’s a lot that goes into putting on the Ryder Cup that people don’t probably know or appreciate, but having a Ryder Cup without fans is not a Ryder Cup.

“Obviously it would be better for Europeans to play without fans because we wouldn’t have to deal with some of the stuff that you have to put up with but at the same time it wouldn’t be a great spectacle, there’d be no atmosphere.

“If they do delay it until 2021, the next Ryder Cup is supposed to be in Italy, and we know how badly affected Italy was by coronavirus, so it gives that country an extra year to prepare for the Ryder Cup in 2023 instead of 2022.”

PGA of America chief executive Seth Waugh revealed in a radio interview with WFAN in New York that many options have been considered, saying: “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 to be determined, frankly, whether you could hold it without fans or not.”

Europe’s captain Padraig Harrington told RTÉ Radio 1: “The absolute 100% consensus is it will not happen behind closed doors.

“The PGA, whose event it is this time around, and the European Tour, both have agreed that spectators are far too important to the event. It will not happen behind closed doors.”

And yet he also acknowledged: “If we could have the match, even if circumstances weren’t 100% perfect in terms of preparation, it would still be a great event on TV. The golfing and sporting public would enjoy that release. It would be a sense of normality.

“It’s not important in the real world. But it wouldn’t be a bad thing. We’re just dying for a bit of sport.”

Harrington’s compatriot Paul McGinley, the winning captain in 2014 tweeted: “Why are we in golf so quick to rule out The Ryder Cup being played behind closed doors yet the EPL (English Premier League) are preparing to have the end of their league & UEFA to have their Champions League games played behind closed doors? Let’s wait …”