Ian Poulter (Getty Images) |
English golfer Ian Poulter hopes the Ryder Cup goes ahead this year even if it has to be played behind closed doors with no fans at the venue.
The world, and by extension professional sport, has ground to a complete standstill in 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, some sporting codes and governments across the globe are considering relaxing lockdown regulations and opening things up again in an attempt to slowly start bringing things back to normal.
Whether this means holding events without supporters or taking extra-ordinary precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the viewing public, officials and players at events has not been decided yet and is likely to vary between sporting codes.
The Ryder Cup is one of the most popular and anticipated golfing events of the calendar and only comes around once every two years.
The supporters at the venue play a huge role in the event and give a major advantage to the home side, but Poulter is adamant the tournament should be hosted even if they have to do it without fans.
“I want to make that team and if I do, and we have to play it behind closed doors, I’m going to embrace it 100 percent. It will be good for TV. It won’t be good from a players’ standpoint, there won’t be as much fun, because you won’t be able to feed off the energy of the fans,” he said according to Sky Sports.
“We would love to see a Ryder Cup with fans. We feed as a team, and we always have, off the fans. So if you take them away it’s going to be an extremely different feeling.
“I’d love to see the world be in a better place by September, and for one of these amazing companies to find a vaccine which would turn this thing on its head very, very quickly. It’s not looking likely, but miracles do happen.”
– TEAMtalk media