Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley voiced his disappointment at the crowd behavior at this year’s Ryder Cup, with R&A chief executive Mark Darbon agreeing that it was a big blow to golf’s usual values.
Ridley and Darbon were speaking at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai, which hands out a spot at The Masters and The Open to the winner.
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Rory McIlroy said he feared Europe’s first away win since 2012 would be overshadowed by the story of the local crowd overstepping the mark – particularly in their treatment of McIlroy, his wife Erica and playing partner Shane Lowry.
The Grand Slam winner said at Bethpage that “golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week” and that’s a sentiment echoed by both Ridley and Darbon.
“I don’t think that anyone was particularly happy with what happened this year,” Ridley said of the Ryder Cup.
“I think it just reminds us, as custodians of the game, the responsibility that we have to perpetuate its underlying values.
“I think hopefully that this is something we’re going to focus on more, because I think that’s part of what makes golf special is that it is a different sort of set of rules, if you will.
“And so it’s something I think we need to work on and it’s something I think I hope everyone involved with the game will reflect on, so we continue to perpetuate the great things got game of golf. “
R&A boss on Ryder Cup fan behavior
(Image credit: Getty Images)
New R&A chief executive Darbon has come in from outside the world of golf, and agreed that one thing that makes it so special is the respect and values within the game – values that were obviously not upheld at Bethpage.
“I think first and foremost, you want and need passion,” said Darbon. “There are very few sports that succeed anywhere around the world without a strong following and passionate supporters.
“But I think one of the things that defines golf, and I’ve worked in a number of sports and I’m new to this industry, one of the things that struck me in my first 10 or 11 months is there’s real strength in the values of the game. They are so critical.
“They are a highly differentiating factor for us versus other sports, and they provides with something that many other sports all around the world would crave, this strong value set that pervades both the recreational game and the elite game.
“And so we as leaders within the sport need to perpetuate and exemplify and role model and showcase those values, because without them, it will become much harder to grow this game.”
The PGA of America came in for criticizm after the event, especially president Don Rea for his initial remarks about the crowd behaviour – while CEO Derek Sprague apologized directly after the Ryder Cup.
