MEDINAH, Ill. — Davis Love III is just like any weekend golfer, he doesn’t like the rough. But that’s not his only reason for turning Medinah Country Club into 7,658 yards of shag carpet. With little to no rough to contend with from tee to green, the 39th Ryder Cup should be a birdie barrage, producing the kind of cheers and crowd enthusiasm the U.S. team hopes to use to regain the Cup.
“I think the fans want to see excitement. They want to see birdies,” Love said, adding, “We want to let these unbelievable athletes free-wheel it a little bit and play.”
Love has set up the course to feature wider fairways and little or no rough from tee to green. The speeds on the greens will be fast and firm.
The expectations for more birdies should aid the Americans, who desperately want the crowd to be energized and excited.
“I think Davis wants birdies and eagles made to get the crowd fizzed up and charged up and make sure they are 120 percent behind the guys,” said Europe’s Graeme McDowell. “It’s going to be exciting and it’s going to be loud.”
Crowd support might be the only real advantage the Americans have here. Most of the top European stars today, including Rory McIlroy, McDowell, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, and Luke Donald, play all the major PGA Tour events and even have homes in the United States. Donald, who went to Northwestern, lives 25 miles north of Medinah. They aren’t afraid of the way Davis has set up the course.
“It feels like it sets up well personally for me, sets up well for most of the guys on our team,” McIlroy said.
The Europeans rode a wave of support in Wales to regain the Cup. But the American crowd inspired the U.S. to victory in 2008 at Valhalla outside Louisville, and the U.S. is hoping history will repeat itself with another home victory.
“I know that 37,000 Americans can drown out 3,000 Europeans if they want to,” Jim Furyk said. “So our job will be to get out there, try to make a good start, make some birdies and engage the crowd and show some emotion ourselves. I think if we can do that, I think the rest of the world will find out how good the sports fans here in Chicago are.”
A few of the Europeans don’t mind being the enemy. Ian Poulter of England seems to thrive on it. He may have been the best overall golfer at Valhalla, going 4-0 in his matches.
“For me it adds to the electricity, adds to the adrenaline rush and I can’t wait to be, obviously, part of the fun for three days,” he said.
By contrast, Garcia and Westwood didn’t win a match all week in Kentucky. But Westwood yesterday downplayed any advantage the Americans might have from the course setup. “This is not a golf course that either team is particularly used to,” he said. “I can’t see how it suits one team or the other to be perfectly honest.”