Rory McIlroy has revealed that Team Europe have been using virtual reality headsets which emulate the shouting of abuse at them in order to prepare for this month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, New York.
Speaking after his final round at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in Surrey, McIlroy, who finished 7 under par for the day and 12 under for the tournament, told reporters Europe’s 12-man team each had abuse tailored to them specifically as they virtually re-familiarised themselves with the course.
McIlroy was asked whether he feels more prepared for this away Ryder Cup than last time out at Whistling Straits in 2021, when Europe suffered their heaviest defeat (19-9) at the hands of a young United States team.
“I think so,” McIlroy said, after an eagle on the 18th delighted fans. He was also asked whether the team feel more prepared to deal with the away experience that awaits them Stateside.
“I mean, there’s a lot of us that have experience at playing away Ryder Cups,” he said. “There’s a few of us who have experience of winning in away Ryder Cups, so I think that’s a big part of it.
“But yeah, we’re doing everything we can to best prepare ourselves for what that’s going to feel like on Friday week or whatever, but nothing can really prepare you until you’re actually in that, you can wear all the VR headsets you want and you can do a lot of the different things that we’ve been trying to do to get ourselves ready, but once the first tee comes on Friday, it’s real, and you just have to deal with whatever’s given.”
McIlroy said the 12-man team, 11 of whom were present at this weekend’s DP World Tour flagship event, had been using the headsets to “simulate the sights and the sounds and noise” they are likely to receive at Bethpage.
“They’ve put abuse on there for us because that’s the stuff that we’re going to have to deal with,” McIlroy explained. “So it’s better to try to desensitise yourself as much as possible before you get in there. They said, how far do you want us to go (with the level of abuse)? 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.”
Team Europe, who are captained by Luke Donald, the returning skipper who orchestrated their victory in Rome two years ago, will fly to New York together on Sunday evening.
The plan is to play the course in Farmingdale for real on Monday and Tuesday before being given the rest of the week off. Many of the team are using that time to play various east coast courses including Aronimink in Pennsylvania, which will host next year’s PGA Championship. Shinnecock Hills is also proving a popular destination given it will host the US Open in 2026 and some of the team will be playing at Pine Valley.
(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
