Golf Twitter sounds off on boisterous Bethpage Black crowds

Boisterous crowds became a major talking point at the PGA Championship on Sunday with a look towards the 2024 Ryder Cup – but champion Brooks Koepka took it in his stride.

Brooks Koepka’s final round was less of a victory lap and more of a grind as he made history in more ways than one by succesfully defending the PGA Championship, but there was a disappointing undertone to the final few holes – and golf twitter made their voices heard. 

Golf journalists, coaches and commentators were among those to take aim at the fans at Bethpage Black attending the 101^st PGA Championship, and there were plenty who were quick to question the decision to bring the Ryder Cup here in 2024 – and what behaviour will ensue at the typically rowdier contest.

Three years ago there were plenty of criticisms of the American crowds when the European Team were met with hostility that at times was viciously personal – and led Rory McIlroy to have one fan removed and the U.S. players policing their own spectators. From what was evident at second major of the year, the fan interaction experience could reach those levels again with ease.

The crowds in New York on Sunday were drunk, raucous and obnoxious, with plenty of jeering and at worst, chants of DJ when Brooks Koepka went on a four hole bogey-run. And you can bet he heard them: When they weren’t openly rooting for DJ instead of him, they were talking over the trophy presentation.

But if the intention was to rile Koepka up or put him off, it was a plan badly executed: Instead, it caused him to refocus – and he seemed completely unphased about how he was being treated, insisting instead he probably deserved it.

“It’s New York,” Koepka said in his press conference. “What do you expect, when you’re half-choking it away.

“I tell you what, the hour spent from No. 11 to 14 was interesting. When they started chanting, “DJ” on 14, it actually kind of helped, to be honest with you. I think it helped me kind of refocus and hit a good one down 15. I think that was probably the best thing that could have happened. It was very, very stressful, the last hour and a half of that round. That’s why I let a big sigh of relief go.

“I think I kind of deserved it. You’re going to rattle off four in a row and it looks like you’re going to lose it; I’ve been to sporting events in New York. I know how it goes.

“Like I said, I think it actually helped. It was at a perfect time because I was just thinking, okay, all right. I’ve got everybody against me. Let’s go.”

But the behaviour of the crowds towards him this week will be a far cry from what they will be like when he’s wearing red, white and blue, and he acknowledged if he was getting that kind of vocal abuse at a major, the European Ryder Cup team are in for a hard time.

“Good luck to Europe with the fans,” Koepka said. “I can’t wait to play it. I hope I’m on the team. If not, I just want to be here.

“It’s going to be very special. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to play it. I’m excited already thinking about it. This is one hell of a place to play Ryder Cup.”

But when Rory McIlroy was asked about what he thought the crowds would be like in a few years time, his response was short but telling.

‘No comment’, he replied.

Below are some of the reactions to the fans on Sunday.

And yet despite the outcry, the majority of players don’t seem to share as many of the concerns.

Dustin Johnson, who finished as the runner-up in his second consecutive major, called the crowds fun – and didn’t take any negative shouting to heart.

“I couldn’t ask any more from the fans,” Johnson said. “They were definitely out there and on my side. They were pulling for me. They were great. It was a lot of fun. 

“There was a lot of yells out there. I just, you know — you’ve just got to go with it.”

Paul Casey also got the nicer side of the energetic crowds while teeing off a few hours before the leaders with fan favourite Phil Mickleson, although despite praising them was quick to acknowledge he doesn’t except similar support in a year’s time.

“The crowd were amazing,said Casey. He (Mickelson) gets nothing but positive reception around here, and I got a lot of that off the back of him, which was great. In 2024, I will get none of that.

“17 tee was quite raucous, and we’re off — I don’t even know, five, six hours before the leaders are going to go off and it’s raucous. So yes, amazing. I can’t imagine what a Ryder Cup will be like around here. I think it would be intimidating, no doubt. I think I said in an interview earlier this week, it’s like a 13th man for the U.S. Team, big advantage.”

Only time will tell, but while there is definitely some positivity surrounding the atmosphere of a rambunctuous crowd, there is also trepidation and concern – after all, the Ryder Cup is a very different type of event to the PGA Championshp.