ROME — Luke Donald will never forget the moment he first stood on the first tee at a Ryder Cup with a golf club in his hands.
“I think we all know that it’s a big moment,’’ the European captain said two days before the matches are to begin Friday at Marco Simone Country Club. “It certainly was for me. I didn’t hit a very good tee shot my first go-around in 2004. It was a wide right.’’
Both Donald and U.S. captain Zach Johnson each have four players on their respective teams who are playing in their first Ryder Cup, and Donald called it “hard to prepare’’ them for the first-tee experience.
“Walking to the tee, I felt pretty calm, confident,’’ Donald recalled of his first. “Five minutes before, it felt pretty normal, like a big event, like a major, but nothing out of the ordinary. And then once your name is called, you start to forget things. Your mind goes a little blank. It’s important to try and have enough clarity about what you want to do on that first tee.
“These are all professionals. They have all been in big moments and I’m sure they will deal with the moment very well. But it is lot of pressure. I keep telling my guys, ‘You’ve got to embrace it, embrace these moments, embrace these times, because these are the best moments. Enjoy them as much as possible, and then look up into the crowd. They want to see you hit a good shot.’ ’’
This week, most of the fans want to see European players hit good shots. Not so much the American players.
Johnson said some of his team veterans “have spoken about’’ the first-tee jitters to the first-timers.
The grandstands seem to get larger with more capacity every two years, with about 5,000 azure blue seats this year.
For the players this week, standing on the first tee will have the feel of standing at home plate at Fenway Park.
“I’m very confident in saying that I think it’s one of the best spectacles in sports,’’ Johnson said. “I think if you can understand that not many people get that opportunity, that’s a pretty awesome opportunity, so relish it, savor it, want it, embrace it, all of that [while] knowing it’s not going to be easy. But at the same time you can kind of flip that. You can kind of flip it mentally and say, ‘This is where I belong.’ ’’
Xander Schauffele, who’s played in one Ryder Cup, two years ago on home soil at Whistling Straits, called the first-tee experience “just a completely different vibe’’ from any other tournament.
“They are gigantic grandstands,’’ Schauffele said. “There aren’t gigantic grandstands at other tournaments, and no one is running to get to the first tee and no one is coming up with songs and chants for each individual player out there.
“It’s spectacular, but it just counts as one shot … just the same as like a tap-in or 2-footer. It’s just one tee shot you hit. It’s a special moment. I think you really embrace it and try and get the fans going, and it just makes the experience even better.’’
Patrick Cantlay put it this way: “It gets you amped up and ready to go, and you definitely feel awake no matter how early it is.’’
Jordan Spieth compared the experience to playing the famous party-grounds par-3 16th hole at the Phoenix Open.
“It’s like hitting a shot on 16 in Phoenix but in contention on Sunday,’’ Spieth said. “But it is just the first tee shot. It really does mean the same as any other shot, but it’s still worth embracing the spectacle that is the first tee of the Ryder Cup. You start hearing it while you’re warming up and you know it’s coming.’’
British Open winner Brian Harman is one of the four U.S. players competing in his first Ryder Cup.
He overcame a lot of fan interference at the Open in July at Royal Liverpool, but understands Ryder Cup emotions are a difference beast.
“As you ratchet up different levels of sports, we’re at the top of our sport, and the fan engagement just gets higher and higher and higher,’’ Harman said. “To say I’ll be ready for Friday morning or Friday afternoon, I don’t think there’s any way you’re ever totally ready. It’s kind of like if you’re trying to give someone advice if they’re about to have their first child.
“There’s nothing you can tell them to get them ready for it. It’s up to you how you handle it.’’
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