The loudest cheer on Wednesday on the first tee erupted shortly before 10am, as the Europeans pulled off a masterstroke in their charm offensive.
Dressed in outfits with green stripes was one thing. Emerging into this hotbed arena wearing foam cheeseheads drew a raucous, delighted reaction from the packed grandstand. Throwing the headgear to the crowd and donning green caps instead provoked another roar of approval.
This is the biggest sporting event ever to be staged in this remote state known nationally for two things: cheese and the Green Bay Packers. On a rainy Monday night at Lambeau Field, where the Packers played their opening home game of the new NFL season, the cheeseheads were almost as ubiquitous among the 77,000 fans in attendance as green jerseys.
The Europe team wore foam cheeseheads as they emerged for practice on Wednesday
Getting the crowd onside was a strategy dreamed up by captain Padraig Harrington (centre)
Getting the golf crowd onside was a strategy dreamed up more than 18 months ago by captain Padraig Harrington and added to the perception that it always looks a lot more fun and relaxed playing for Europe at the Ryder Cup.
‘Our clothing designers came to me back then and said they’d like to bring some Irish colours into the outfits,’ revealed the skipper, whose cousin Joey Harrington used to play for the Detroit Lions, the team the Packers defeated on Monday.
‘I’m not really into that stuff so I said, “Why don’t we do something with a Wisconsin theme, and particularly the Green Bay Packers?” Look, it’s a bit of fun. It’s light-hearted and that’s how you want it in practice.
‘It’s respectful of the Packers, they’re on board with it, and the players are pretty stoked that they’re able to show their appreciation of the American state we’re playing in.
‘Obviously the business starts on Friday but we want the players to have their enjoyment with the crowd until then. And I must say the crowd have been great. They’ve come out here in great numbers on a cold day and we want to give them something to watch.’
Inevitably, Ian Poulter was at the centre of attention, telling the fans to cheer as he prepared to drive off. Be careful what you wish for. ‘USA! USA!’ they chorused.
He took it in the spirit intended, and they applauded him back when he walked off the tee, all thumbs up when he wasn’t clapping like a footballer substituted just before the end of the match following a winning contribution.
For long-time Ryder Cup observers, it was all reminiscent of Oakland Hills, Detroit, in 2004, when Harrington was part of a Europe team playing on American soil for the first time since the shame of Brookline in 1999, where the unruly fans created a setting more akin to a bearpit.
All the talk in the build-up back then was whether we could expect more of the same. Captain Bernhard Langer, the skipper that Harrington resembles in so many ways, drew the sting by sending his players towards the gallery ropes and making sure they signed more than their share of autographs.
The European team were in fine spirits in their nod towards NFL franchise Green Bay Packers
The charm led to a Ryder Cup played in a peaceful atmosphere and one that produced a record margin of victory for Europe in an away match. Harrington acknowledged the comparison.
‘All the players are out there to get on with the crowds,’ he said. ‘Obviously because of Covid we’re not allowed to sign autographs, so we’re doing what we can to help make it an enjoyable time.
‘It was a nod to Wisconsin and the Packers and we’re glad the fans were so appreciative of what we were trying to do.’
The Dubliner cut an impressive, relaxed figure as he conducted his daily press conference. Usually by the middle of the week the captains are starting to tire of this ritual but not the voluble 50-year-old.
‘Oh, you know me, I love to talk,’ he said afterwards, as he made his way towards a television studio.
Rory McIlroy is in the European side trying to retain the Ryder Cup in Wisconsin this weekend
There had been a typically classy gesture at the end of his press segment, when the man from the Irish Independent had held up his hand in vain to ask a question.
‘Ah come on now, you have to let the Irishman ask his question, he’s come a long way,’ said Harrington, smiling.
It was a good question, too, on whether there were any players who had exceeded expectations in the team room, as Harrington highlighted the man who was once his adversary.
‘I think Sergio (Garcia),’ he said. ‘I kind of knew this, but he really works very hard behind the scenes. There isn’t a player in the team with whom he hasn’t had a quiet word at some stage.
The Northern Irishman was also part of the side which won the Cup three years ago in Paris
‘Viktor Hovland as well. Him being so young I didn’t know him very well, but he’s a lot of fun to be around. He adds that energy and freshness that you need.’
As for the players in his team at the opposite end of the scale, he acknowledged that, on a long and demanding golf course, he would have to be careful with how much he asked of his veterans.
He hinted that 48-year-old Lee Westwood and 45-year-old Poulter, in particular, are likely to play just three matches.
Harrington had one more revelation before he left the scene. If Europe were to win, he confided that he would embrace the tradition established by Thomas Bjorn in Paris last time, when the Dane went way out of his comfort zone and agreed to get a tattoo at the urging of his players as the price of victory.
‘It came up in conversation and I’ve gone along with it so, yes, I’ll be getting my first tattoo if we win,’ said Harrington.
‘Where on the body? Ah now, I can’t go down that route. Just to say I was relieved that was all they asked.
‘I would have agreed to a lot more than that for a win.’
