Rory McIlroy reveals unusual way Ryder Cup team is preparing for Bethpage abuse

By , News editor and writer. Probably entertainer third.

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Rory McIlroy and his Ryder Cup teammates can expect plenty of heckling from the Bethpage crowd.

As they prepare to enter the cauldron that is the Black course at Bethpage, Luke Donald’s side have a secret weapon up their sleeves. (And on their heads…)

Rory McIlroy has revealed that the European players have been using a rather surprising method to prepare for the Ryder Cup.

Luke Donald’s side have touched down in New York for a two-day reconnaissance of the infamous Black course at Bethpage, where there 45th playing of the biennial matches will take place next week.

They will be looking to become just the fifth visiting team to win on US soil in the Ryder Cup’s history, and Rory McIlroy has insisted that “we are doing everything we can to best prepare ourselves for what it is going to feel like”.

And with no fans will be on site until the first practice day, one tactic has been to use VR headsets to replicate any abuse that is expected from the famously raucous north-east crowds.

“It is to simulate the sights and sounds,” McIlroy explained following his tie for the 20th at the BMW PGA Championship.

“That’s the stuff that we are going to have to deal with. It’s better to try to desensitize yourself as much as possible before you get in there.”

While McIlroy would not go into detail what is being said through the headsets – “You don’t want to know!” – he did reveal that he was asked how much abuse he wanted to hear, to which he replied: “Go as far as you want.”

The World No.2 continued: “You can get them to say whatever you want them to say. You can go as close to the bone as you like.

“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.”

And while a partisan crowd will be out in force on Long Island, McIlroy is hoping to hear plenty of friendly voices at Bethpage.

“We might get there and be like, this actually isn’t as bad as we thought it would be,” he added.

“No matter if you’re an American team going to Europe or you’re a European team going to America, it’s the same. You know you’re going to be up against not just a great team but the crowd as well. That brings its challenges.

“New York is definitely more of a cosmopolitan city, more of a melting pot and more backgrounds and people identify as part European. We should get a little more support but at the same time, you’re going to America with an American crowd.”

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