‘You dont want to know’ Rory McIlroy explains Team Europe’s unusual method to prepare for Ryder Cup abuse

The upcoming clash with the USA is expected to be the most intimidating environment yet for a visiting European side

Europe’s Ryder Cup stars have been preparing for the hostile atmosphere they’ll face at Bethpage Black by using virtual reality headsets that simulate crowd abuse.

The upcoming clash with the USA is expected to be the most intimidating environment yet for the visiting European side, with team captain Luke Donald devising innovative methods to help his players adapt to the anticipated reception in New York.

McIlroy revealed: “They said, ‘How far to you want this to go?’ And I said: ‘Go as far as you want.’ It is just to simulate the sights and sounds and noise. That’s the stuff that we are going to have to deal with.

“We are doing every­thing we can to best prepare ourselves for what it is going to feel like on Friday week. But nothing can really prepare you until you’re actually in that.

“You can wear all the VR headsets you want and do all the different things we’ve been trying to do to get ourselves ready but once the first tee comes on Friday it’s real and we just have to deal with whatever’s given,” reports the Irish Mirror.

When pressed for specifics about what the players were experiencing through the headsets, McIlroy replied: “You don’t want to know. Not for publication.”

The European squad departed for America yesterday following the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, with plans to familiarise themselves with the Bethpage layout early this week. And McIlroy, who concluded the week with a round of 65, is hopeful that all the conjecture surrounding what lies ahead in the biennial competition is largely just speculation as Europe seek to become the first side to triumph on foreign soil since 2012.

“I think the more we talk about that, the maddest (crowds) or whatever, we might get there and be like, this actually isn’t as bad as we thought it would be, who knows,” he said.

“No matter if you’re an American team going to Europe or you’re a European team going to America, it’s the same. You know you’re not going to be up against not just a great team but the crowd as well. That brings its challenges.

“New York is definitely more of a cosmopolitan city, more of a ­melting pot and more backgrounds and people identify as part European. We should get a little more support but at the same time, you’re going to America with an American crowd.”