Former Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz and 76ers guard Kyle Lowry know a thing or two about playing in front of New York sports fans on a big stage, so the pair is keenly aware of what Team Europe can expect this week at Bethpage Black during the Ryder Cup.
Crowds at the famed Long Island course are expected to be particularly rowdy when the showdown between the best American and European golfers begins Friday.
There has been considerable attention paid to the impact of the crowd, to the extent that European captain Luke Donald even gave every member of his squad VR headsets to help simulate the expected crowd noise.
Past PGA events — the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2009, The Barclays in 2012 and 2016 and the PGA Championship in 2019 — have all been highlighted by loud, energetic crowds that have flocked to Bethpage. And Cruz’s advice to the golfers gearing up to take center stage in front of those same fans is to just “stay calm.”