American perspective on Presidents Cup

I have just read an Article in the Irish Times by Retief Goosens caddie, Colin Byrne (a fellow Irish man who does a weekly column from the caddies perspective).

He was giving his impression of the Presidents Cup and how well the American team played and how sportsmanlike they were. However, he raised the issue of how hostile the crowd were and as he wrote himself "the crowd would be like wild animals shouting against them". This is a consistent image the American golfing supporter is portraying to the rest of the world (be it Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, etc.)

The American golfers I have met aswell as the Americans on this site seem very reasonable - is this culture a small minority or do normal sensible men loose the run of themselves at these events?

I'm not looking to start an anti American thread here, I was just curious as to what an Americans perspective is on the way American golfing supporters are percieved.

It is sadly portrayed that the American Golf fans are loud and beer can throwers, unfortunatley we all have our crosses to bare.

Look at our football fans, now we are talking nutters with no respect for any other fans.

My family all live in Co Rosscommon so I'm in the middle being half Irish and English.

Before the next hundred years are done we will be soley continentals and not recognised as individual countries.

It a good job it's GB & I or I would have to choose.


Ian.

I didn't watch the President's Cup, so I'm not sure what the behavior of the spectators was like in this case. The most popular sports in the US are baseball, American football, basketball, and hockey. None of these sports typically involve competition with teams outside of North America, so the "splendid isolation" for which we are culturally and politically notorious extends to sports as well. I think there are probably many to whom it never occurs that when the visiting team is from all over the world, boisterous support for the home team can pass a certain line and be perceived as rude and hostile. There just aren't that many sports venues here where this is a factor.

That's one theory anyway.

Personally, I think it's one thing to show support for the home team, but it's just bad manners to fail to show appreciation when the visiting team plays brilliantly.

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Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

I have not been to the ryder or president's cup but I have been to the masters (4) times, the us open (1), and the Solheim Cup. Obviously, the masters puts up with 0 bs from an fans....anyone who does an obscene thing is quickly escorted with their tickets revoked, foooooorever......now at the solheim cup I did not notice any americans rooting against the euros openly. ALthough I heard of one jack ass saying "yes" when a putt was missed by laurie davies. at one of the US opens fans were all over Sergio....calling him Mrs. Hingis and yelling "you da woman!" This was of course a few years ago. I think it goes both ways though when you pit two teams against each other in a golf tournament. Golf is played 98% of the time as an individual sport. When you have two opposing teams wether it be americans versus the euros, republicans versus the democrats, Tito and jermaine, you will have a little non-conforming attitudes.....it is pride in ones country...however i think over zealous fans are a shame to the game....but where do you draw the line? Yes, euro football fans are prolly the most obsessive fans in the world next to Nascar and American football. However, very few riots and deaths occur in america. I attribute that to people in america move more frequently and obviously our country is slightly bigger. Therfore most are not brought up on on just manchester united all their life.....and we also have other sports to choose from such as hockey, baseball, nascar, and a huge college program that includes all of the above.

I thought about this one for a while. What comes to me as the primary reason is that this sport has become so amazingly commercialized in the last 20 years, so much so that every person on this planet (and probably a few neighboring ones by now) with a television knows the #1 player in the world. That was unheard of golf or any other sport except for the elite classes who could afford the game, know about the game, and care enough to watch the game.
That said, understanding that everything the US does is to it’s extreme. Otherwise, “what would be the point to be only second best” is our mentality mantra as a whole.And we apply this to anything we begin to care about. Golf is something that the average American has begun to care about because it is jammed into our brain at every opportunity from every manufacturer that has any stake in making a dollar from the game. The more we care, the more we play and the more we want the best of everything. “He who dies with the most toys…wins.” A trophy is just another toy and we will go along with the guy next to us shouting and carrying on like a normal “American approved” fan.
I suspect that the rest of the world will catch up, but I hope not.
Take it as an explanation and not an excuse.

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I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

I dont know what can be done regarding an excess of xenophobia .Golf is only one aspect to be affected by this cancer. The whole of our society appears to be afflicted, we have boorishness,bad manners,and a general disregard for others. It is more apparent in golf, long regarded as being a game played by gentlemen.

I think currently it is a minority that behave that way, but it is also becoming closer and closer to the majority. There is at least one tournament a year (the Phoenix open) where that behavior is well in the majority, and the players are well aware of that when they make the decision to either play or not play that paticular event.

I think that the behavior has to do with simply that sponsers are trying to attract the largest audiance possible and that one segmant of that audiance is the football type crowd who has fun by getting drunk and obnoxious at events. The PGA, Sponsers etc. have done nothing at all to discourage that behavior, in fact at the Phoenix open it is almost encouraged by the TV advertizers and vendors.

On the other hand, at least in the Ryder cup the complaints have been that EUrope's crowds have been equally as bad. Quoting Davis Love in an article from 1999


He recalled the Ryder Cup at the Belfry in England in 1993, with "people poking umbrellas through the fence trying to trip us".

And he hinted at a deeper level of bitterness towards the European contingent, when he asked: "How long have they been calling our wives flight attendants and blonde bimbos?" Love added that at Valderrama in 1997: "People were downright ugly to us, coughing and yelling and cheering when we missed a putt."

Having lived and taught in America for a while, I think I can understand why the American fans are the way they are. In my mind, the Americans are incredibly patriotic, they have an awesome national pride to the extent where it becomes "a little much" for people who don't understand their nature.

For example, lots and lots of Americans have flags flying outside their homes. Where else do you see that? They are proud to be American and will die defending the flag if need be. For example, when Americans sing their anthem, they don't just sing it for the sake of singing it, they really sing and you can see the passion in it.

When national pride is at stake, the Americans are very unforgiving, as it should be. They are unforgiving at any sport, whether it be baseball, basketball, football, golf, anything national or olympics - they just do not accept second best - it isn't just sport it is national pride at stake.

I know in previous Ryder Cups the US supporters may have gobe a little too far, but it is directed at their national expectations and pride rather than a nasty attack at the opposing team.

That's my opinion ...

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Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

The majority of the crowd at this type of event are not true "golfers". A lot of these people don't even pay their way into the event. They are given tickets because they either purchase from one of the sponsors or are friends of a friend that purchases from a sponsor. The major sponsors all have hospitality tents where there guests are given free food and drink. It's the free drink that contributes to a lot of the boorish behavior. The same people that were loud and rude at the President's cup, would be loud and rude at any other sporting event. You would like to think patriotism brought out the cheers, but it was really the Johnny Walker.


Because most of the foreign players in these events have a residence in the U.S. it isn't really the U.S.A. against the World anyway. Just a bunch of PGA pros playing different formats. To me, watching the various formats is the interesting part of the event, not the U.S. versus the World match ups.

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