Europe captain Padraig Harrington believes players may
have to stomach the sterile atmosphere of a Ryder Cup behind closed doors to
keep TV viewers entertained.
The biennial event between Europe and the United States is
scheduled to take place from September 25-27 in Wisconsin, but is in doubt due
to the coronavirus pandemic.
So far 13 events have been cancelled or postponed on the
PGA Tour. Action is scheduled to resume on June 11, but the first four events
will be played without spectators.
Some of Europe’s leading players like Rory McIlroy and Jon
Rahm are not in favour of the event being without fans on the course. But
Harrington believes golf may have to “take one for the world of team
sport”.
“No one wants to play behind closed doors but they
(tournament organisers) are keeping a prudent eye on it and they know if the
PGA Tour events in June go off well behind closed doors it’s a
possibility,” the three-time major winner told Sky Sports.
“The players don’t want it but we might have to take
one for the world of team sport and put an event on that people can watch. It
wouldn’t be the same for us but we’re craving sport on TV.
“I keep saying if they put on any live sport, a lower
division football game, we’d all be watching it because we want to see something
live, something that’s unexpected.
“The unpredictability of an event would be nice, you
don’t realise what you miss.”
