European pro golfers are wearing virtual reality headsets as part of their training programme. Not to improve their swing, but to help them learn to block out the hollers and chants of what's expected to be a pretty fiery crowd at the next Ryder Cup in the US.
Next week, pro golfers from across Europe and the United States will duke it out for the Ryder Cup. The international golfing tournament has been won by the Europe team in seven out of the previous 10 times, though the Europeans have failed to win on US soil since 2012. The next Ryder Cup will take place at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York. So, the pressure is on.
Home team advantage is at play here, and a part of that is the intensity of the crowds. As someone with only a mild interest in swinging a club at my local club's driving range, I can only imagine how much more I'd whiff it if there were hundreds, if not thousands, of angry fans calling me a sweaty, lanky ****head every time I swung.
According to top golfer Rory McIlroy, he was asked how far he wanted the virtual reality headset experience to go, to which he replied: "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," he continued (via The Guardian).
I'd love to get my hands on that program. Is it a light, family-friendly riffing in the far-off background, the likes of that guy calling Happy Gilmore a jackass, or is it more explicit? Golf can appear pretty stuffy from the outside, but the Ryder Cup has a bit of a reputation for getting rowdy. Not like, football-rowdy, like your Dad after a few too many pints rowdy.
When pressed on the insults were programmed into the headset, McIlroy said: "You don’t want to know. Not for publication."
"But nothing can really prepare you until you’re actually in that," McIlroy explains. "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."
So, next time you don your virtual reality headset, maybe think about jumping into VR Chat to request a bunch of strangers to roast you. The mental fortitude you'll gain could be the key to historic success, or see you sat in a corner with tears streaming down from under your headset.
