Collin Morikawa had a message for American fans when they arrive at Bethpage Black on Friday for the Ryder Cup.
Morikawa called the crowds “tame” during the first two days the course had been open to the public for the practice rounds, and he was calling on fans to bring the “chaos” come the first day of the competition.
“I’ll be honest, I think it’s kind of tame so far, Tuesday and Wednesday,” he said. “I hope Friday is just absolute chaos. I’m all for it. I think it feeds into who we are and the American players and the American Team. We want it. We want to use that to our advantage. … Just because we don’t play in a [team] setting like this [regularly] doesn’t mean the craziness of New York and the rest of the country that people are traveling in from, it doesn’t mean that we can’t use that to our advantage. I think we really have to tap into that. I hope they come strong.
“Watching all these kids, I know they want autographs, but come Friday, I hope they go crazy.”
Plenty of the conversations in the lead-up to the Ryder Cup have been about the anticipated atmosphere, but the Americans are doing their best to mentally prepare each other for the trash-talking that comes with an event like the Ryder Cup.
Morikawa noted that the Team USA vice captains have done a particularly good job of putting some extra pressure on the players during the practice rounds. The 28-year-old, who is appearing in his third Ryder Cup this year, described it as them “trying to get into our wallets and in our heads.”
“It’s the vice captains, I think, that are kind of putting us out there and giving us a little bit of a nudge,” he said. “If you need that little nudge to say, hey, wake up, even though it’s Wednesday, yesterday was Monday, Tuesday, these guys are pushing us in the right direction. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they are able to read everyone on our team and say, hey, this guy needs a little bit of a pick-me-up and push you and a little poke.”
The United States is hoping to redeem itself after a tough showing in Rome two years ago and it was evident on Wednesday that the loss had stuck with him over the two years since.
The loss was his first team loss since he played amateur and junior golf, he explained, and said that there was a “sour taste leaving Rome.”
“It felt really weird. Like it wasn’t an okay feeling,” Morikawa said. “For the past couple years, I wouldn’t say it’s haunted me, but it definitely woke me up when I was on the verge of making this team to make sure I could give everything I could.”