As the blue waves crashed against American dreams in the morning session, the home crowds had been not yet silenced but very much quietened. Even the most patriotic of observers admitted that the atmosphere was nothing close to “New York loud”.
There was a burst of cheers around the 13th hole but not for the Americans in the middle of the fairway. It was for hoops icon Michael Jordan who was tracking the opening match where Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were having their way with Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas.
The Bulls legend is, famously, a close friend of Luke Donald with the pair golfing together during Donald’s college days in Chicago. The visiting captain was sporting a pair of custom Nike Air Jordans on opening day too.
But the great one’s thoughts were very much on his home team as the European duo went 3-up moving to the 14th, the board full of blue now. “We got problems,” Jordan told a US reporter. Sure did.
Having predicted we may see JP McManus sooner rather than later, the man who will be welcoming this while fandango to Ireland in two years was indeed up and at it from first light on opening day.
With Dermot Desmond and Limerick hurling manager John Kiely for company, the Adare Manor owner followed Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood’s landslide win in the morning foursomes. The group were deep in conversation with Gerry McIlroy and also introduced themselves to the wives of Collin Morikawa and Harris English.
Bethpage Black can be a beast to play and it ain’t an easy one to walk either. Nonetheless the 74-year-old was up and down the front nine. Around the turn McManus expressed sympathy to a photographer carrying a hefty amount of gear with them.
“Don’t worry, we’ll have Adare well flattened out for ye for the next one,” he told the snapper.
Speaking of ’90s sports superstars and snappers, there is a frisson of excitement every time one photographer makes his way through the media centre.
Ken Griffey Jr is one of the most fearsome baseball sluggers of all time, a 13-time All Star who hit 630 home runs during a legendary career that lasted from 1989 to 2010.
Since retirement, ‘Junior’ has delved into his passion for sports photography and worked for many of the major agencies including Getty across some of the world’s biggest events. He’s on duty all week at Bethpage and certainly has no issues handling the weight of a camera.
The opening day saw the crowd numbers soar with a lot of knock-on effects. The Irish Examiner played safe with a 4.30am train to the course and were glad we did because it was sardine stuffed. The ones that followed must have been almost unbearable.
But the increase in fans also meant a wider variety of get-up. Some delved deep into their imagination for their outfit choices. Others just went off-colour. Louisville prison jumpsuits in tribute to Scottie Scheffler for example.
One elderly American woman looked to be regretting coming in full George Washington outfit as temperatures approached 30-odd.
Special shout-out for the group of lads with T-shirts showing Europe’s captain at work in the Oval Office. “There’s a new Donald in town” went the text.
