It was everything you’d hope it would be…..
The third largest sporting event in the world (260,000 people) and it felt like every bit of it.
Nothing from the two days assuages my opinion that in small groups, American tourists are generally jovial, polite and interested/interesting. In groups any larger than you would play Monopoly with, they are (again, generally) intolerable.
No matter which color stars you supported, the crowd vibe was great and people loved to chat, ask where you are from, what holes you’ve been to, who you are supporting etc.
I was amongst good natured groups most of the time, but always the Europeans had the best banter. In the end the large group of seppos situated in the grandstand near me (on the 13th on Saturday) just conceded the cheering contest and actually started asking all the poms, Scotts and Irish how they all know the right song to sing, at the right time, in unison.
“Is there… like… a giant group chat where you all ….like… work it out in advance??”
No, Miss California. No.
The cheering was intense, but from what I saw generally in good spirits and not vitriolic. Maybe the meanest thing was after Scottie (with Brooks) got handed the biggest beatdown in Ryder Cup history at the hands of Hovland/Ludwig, he was shown on Twitter sobbing with his head in his hands. The response was a full-scale singalong of “we saw you crying on the telly”.
American’s object to this as excessively mean, especially when getting beaten so badly anyway.
Reply: “you only sing when you’re winning”.
There was a thousand versions of Zombie lyrics (“he’s in your head, in your heeeeaaad, Rory, Rory”), Sweet Caroline-based chants, and a really sweet Piano Man one that I can’t remember as well as the now-famous “US is terrified” chant.
Through two days I saw a couple of heated exchanges between fans, and one push-and-shove over a beer spill, but nothing more than that. Maybe helped by the fact that the Americans could not get too chirpy when getting beaten into submission.
Day 1 (Friday) I left the apartment around 4.15am and was walking towards Rome Termini (as the metro doesn’t start that early, and app wasn’t getting me a taxi) and ended up meeting some Poms waiting for the bus. Jumped on that which saved some time, but not enough. There was only 2 ways to reach the course, and both ride-and-shuttle options. The train station was chaos, and in the end I was one of the last ones onto the train to take me to the bus transfer to the course. At the other end things got really frustrating as the line out of the train station and onto the buses was crazy long and barely moving.
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The sunrise was really nice so that eased the frustrations of the crowd, that was getting edgy about missing the first tee times.
Eventually made it on the bus and to the course with about 20 minutes before tee time, but any idea of a prime spot on the first few holes was well passed. Took some time to check out the range, get a coffee and then wandered up to see tee shots coming up and approaches on 1.
Took the second transport option on Saturday and this was much better. Arrived at Marco Simone well before daylight and was in the waiting crowd (they held the actual course closed until daylight) to make the run when the course opened (but still probably 4-5,000 people in front of me).
I had to make a call about if the line for the first tee had more people than spaces in the grandstand when I got there, and opted to get a better spot up the fairway instead which I think was the right call.
Being out there earlier on day 2, the sunrise was on-course and it really was pretty cool with Roman ruins around the property.
It was really hot and very bright both days (although at least with a little more breeze on Friday), which meant that getting some shade when possible was key, and also that it made seeing the ball on long shots really hard (so I ended up watching more par 3 action that I would’ve thought, and also because the atmosphere on those seemed the best.)
Would have been even hotter in some of the amazing outfits people had on. Notables included:
- Lots of Roman Emporer get-ups
- Lots of groups with Euro stars onesies or matching custom shirts for the trip
- Plenty of big ‘ol boys with Stars and Stripes overalls and no shirts
- Lots of lycra Stars and Stripes onesies (some people pulled it off much better than others, but all looked very hot and sweaty)
Main merchandise marquee (there was smaller ones around the course) was a sight to behold. Zanks and Kaes would have loved it. Every imaginable souvenir and bit of golf kit, plus all the team gear from each session of play. Not sure how else to describe the size of it, but there was 90 cash registers in action.
Food & drink was really expensive, but the quality was great and being sponsored by Peroni there was plenty of good beer.
Noteworthy moments:
1. Some Americans and I started chatting to a guy walking inside the ropes in advance of a group. He had an American accent but full Euro outfit on, and so the gist was “why are are you a traitor?” His reply was simple in that he goes for USA all the time, but this week is very well paid to be Team Europe. “Who do you work for?”. Reply: “I’m Jon Rahm’s coach”. Fair enough then mate, fair enough. At the time Rahm was well on his way to his second point for Europe. He duly stiffed his approach and gave old mate the stare and fist pump.
2. Standing only 15 feet or so from a tucked pin on the par 4 3rd and Alex Fitzpatrick kneels down inside the ropes waiting for brother Matt to come through. Fitz #1 stiffs a close approach and nails the birdie putt and looks right at his bro who is absolutely pumped, veins popping.
3. Standing right against the tee box on the 4th on Saturday, and there is a foursome of friendly Scotts asking me where I am from, who I am supporting etc. Noting the accent, I mentioned that me & my mates are big Bob McIntyre fans. Naturally they got around this, and proceeded to show me their masks (made out of cutout pictures of Bob’s face) that they had planned. There was some consideration (concern) that this might put Bob off his difficult par 3 tee shot, but they agreed it was best to press on with the plan. I think Bob did notice but chose not to be distracted and kept a straight face, but others did not. Rory (and wife) had a great chuckle on the way through, JT poked Speith & Greller and pointed them out while the Euros teed off, and Bob’s Mum had the best laugh - took a selfie and declared in the thickest Scottish “I’m a Mum to youse all”
4. American 20-something chicks had no idea who the players were, but real excited that they heard Justin Timberlake was walking inside the ropes with the next group, and Mark Wahlberg also on course.
Player thoughts:
1. Scottie is a BIG due - much larger than Brooks or anyone else out there, and also seemed as he does on TV - really calm, quiet and nice.
2. Cantlay seems exactly how you’d expect. Sulky prat.
3. Rory was just so mobbed with attention and cheers that he really just stays in his bubble (with his ever present security guy that I remember from following him in Dubai years ago, and a massive following group of journos and photographers inside the ropes), as did Bob/Morikawa.
4. On the other hand Rasmus, Rahm, Viktor, Tyrell and Ludwig really seemed to be paying attention to what is going on around them. Big Shane REALLY loves the crowd and noise.
5. JT and Speith really do hang out and chat all the time. Even when the opposition is teeing off or putting, they are muttering to each other constantly.
6. Ludwig and Rasmus looked like lean lab-created golfers (in the best possible way) and like they could both play any sport you want to throw at them. Ludwig is going to be a WEAPON.
7. Sam Burns and particularly Max really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Max is a really easy guy to get around.
Nice-guy Max was the only Team US player with a winning record for the week.
What a couple of days - major bucket list item did not disappoint!!!
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