Europe uses VR headsets to rehearse heckling at Bethpage Black ahead of Ryder Cup

Europe’s Ryder Cup team has turned to virtual reality to rehearse for the noise and heckling expected at Bethpage Black, Rory McIlroy said Sunday, as players prepare for the biennial match in New York.

McIlroy, speaking after the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England, said captain Luke Donald handed out VR headsets at a team gathering that allow players to visualise the course while adjusting the level of crowd noise and the content of taunts simulated from outside the ropes.

"It is just to simulate the sights and sounds and noise," McIlroy said. "That’s the stuff that we are going to have to deal with. So it’s better to try to de‑sensitize yourself as much as possible before you get in there. You can get them to say whatever you want them to say. So you can go as close to the bone as you like."

Donald has warned his team to expect a vociferous crowd at Bethpage, the public Long Island course known for having some of the rowdiest and occasionally obnoxious golf fans. Europe had 11 players at Wentworth this week before heading to New York for practice sessions at Bethpage Black; Sepp Straka, who was home with a newborn last week, is expected to join them.

Five members of the European squad have never played Bethpage Black in competition, a factor the team is addressing with course walkthroughs and the VR sessions. McIlroy said the exercises are part of a wider effort to prepare for the unique atmosphere but acknowledged there are limits to how much artificial training can replicate competition conditions.

"We are doing everything we can to best prepare ourselves for what it is going to feel like on Friday week," McIlroy said. "But nothing can really prepare you until you’re actually in that. You can wear all the VR headsets you want and do all the different things we’ve been trying to do to get ourselves ready but once the first tee comes on Friday it’s real and we just have to deal with whatever’s given."

Europe last won a Ryder Cup on U.S. soil in 2012 at Medinah, a victory that required a dramatic comeback. The team’s most recent American visit in 2021 at Whistling Straits was marked by limited European attendance because of pandemic travel restrictions, and McIlroy and other veterans view the New York environment as a very different challenge.

The use of VR to simulate crowd conditions reflects a growing interest in technological aids to prepare athletes for nontechnical pressures, including crowd noise, visual distractions and verbal taunts. European officials say the sessions are aimed at reducing the potential impact of hostile crowds on decision‑making and execution, not at encouraging confrontation.

Practice at Bethpage and final preparations over the coming days will determine how well the VR simulations translate to match play. The Ryder Cup begins in New York next week, when Europe and the United States will vie for the trophy in front of what is expected to be one of the most boisterous crowds in the event’s recent history.