Ryder Cup: US officials hoping for 'greatest Ryder Cup in history' with Whistling Straits 'party' in September
Europe will attempt to retain the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin from September 24-26 after it was rescheduled from last September due to the coronavirus pandemic; "We have every hope and every desire and we're working very hard to make it an absolute full fan experience"
Last Updated: 18/05/21 9:14pm
Officials in the United States have revealed they are hoping to make the 43rd Ryder Cup in September "the greatest Ryder Cup in history".
Europe will attempt to retain the trophy at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin from September 24-26 after the event was rescheduled from last September due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But with spectators now returning to golf tournaments in the United States and the situation improving in the country due to the rollout of vaccines, PGA of America chief executive officer Seth Waugh hopes they will be able to provide a party atmosphere at the Ryder Cup - hopefully with a full crowd in attendance.
Speaking ahead of this week's PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, Waugh said: "From a Ryder Cup perspective, obviously we worked with the industry last year to postpone it for a year. We have every hope and every desire and we're working very hard to make it an absolute full fan experience [this year].
"We're working obviously with the state and local governments to have all those conversations. It'll be fluid. But our plan is to have it be the greatest Ryder Cup in history. I think the world as we've seen is ready to have a party.
"The Olympics is going to happen it looks like, but not in the way that you would hope it would. And so this is really going to be the first time to cheer for your country, to have that sort of tribal - in-person anyway - atmosphere that is so important.
"We're hopeful that September will be one of the great events in golf and a great sort of exclamation point to the end of this thing.
"We think it's all going to happen fast from here, certainly from a US perspective. I realise the world still has a lot of challenges out there, but from a US perspective we're really hopeful we'll be able to pull it off."
Tickets for the Ryder Cup sold out last year and most of those have been retained by the buyers, with full attendance the aim for Whistling Straits.
Chief championships officer Kerry Haigh added: "We were sold out as of a year ago, which was great news. Obviously then we postponed it and we offered all ticket holders and corporate purchases the opportunity to either stay in or not for 2021, for the playing of it in 2021.
"So the vast majority of the ticket holders and the corporates remained in and ready to go. We are working with the county and the state of Wisconsin and have submitted our Covid protocol plan, which as Seth mentioned continues to change and evolve every day.
"We're hopeful that by September we will be able to have full attendance. If it were today we could not based on where Covid numbers are, but certainly with the vaccine and the numbers coming down, we are very hopeful and optimistic that we will be able to have full attendance."
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