World No.14 Justin Rose is refusing to rule out the idea of playing in a Ryder Cup without fans later this year, calling the idea ‘mind-blowing’ and believes the event could be more intense with no galleries.
While the likes of Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have all roundly dismissed the notion of playing the event behind closed doors, Rose believes there could be some merit to it.
“Come September we might actually be used to playing with no crowds,” he said.
“Who knows how the summer is going to play out. The thought of a Ryder Cup without fans is mind-blowing, but what is the new normal?
“Would we rather still have the opportunity to play? You can’t just bump everything to 2021 because then 2021 becomes chaos if that’s the case.
“In one way, a Ryder Cup match could be more intense between the two players. There’s nowhere to hide, nowhere else to look – it’s eyeball to eyeball and could create a bizarrely intense environment.”
Rose returns to action in two weeks at the Charles Schwab Challenge and he is eager to compete again and witness how the PGA Tour organizes and implements their resumption.
“I think the sport will be a great help for people who are still not able to get back to work themselves in whatever way,” said Rose. “I really miss competing and I’m willing to go through whatever is going to be required.
“It’s going to be tedious, the checks and balances that we need to have in place to make it safe.
“For me, it’s worth it, especially hearing about what the key workers have gone through.
“While we’ve been tucked up safe and sound, they’ve been out there on the front lines dealing with this.”
