McIlroy reveals Europe tried VR headsets to replicate abuse and “desensitise” for Ryder Cup cauldron

Rory McIlroy reflects on his final round at. Wentworth

Rory McIlroy closed with a spectacular 65 at the BMW PGA Championship and revealed that Europe has tried using virtual reality headsets shouting abuse to acclimatise for what awaits them at the Ryder Cup.

Skipper Luke Donald handed out VR headsets at Tuesdays team gathering on Tuesday in an attempt to help the players anticipate the abuse they will receive from fans on the first tee at Bethpage Black.

Asked what kind of things were played over the headsets, McIlroy told the Guardian: “You don’t want to know. Not for publication.”

Players were asked how much abuse they were prepared to listen to and McIlroy said:  ‘Go as far as you want.’  

He explained: “It is just to simulate the sights and sounds and noise. That’s the stuff that we are going to have to deal with.

"So it’s better to try to desensitise yourself as much as possible before you get in there.

“You can get them to say whatever you want them to say. So you can go as close to the bone as you like.”

McIlroy knows nothing can prepare Europe for the level of abuse they are likely to receive from fans in New York.

“We are doing everything we can to best prepare ourselves for what it is going to feel like on Friday week,” McIlroy said as Europe prepared to fly out tonight for a three-day reconnaissance trip.  

“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.”

Padraig Harrington deliberately hyped up how nervous he might feet hitting the opening tee shot at The Open this summer so it wouldn’t feel as bad in reality.

McIlroy believes the same might apply on Long Island.

“I think the more we talk about that, the maddest 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.

As for his final round, where he made two eagles and five birdies, almost making his first career albatross at the fourth before rolling in a 35-footer at the 18th, he was pleased to improve his play on the par-fives.

“Well, I think you enjoy yourself a bit more when you play like that instead of the way I played the first three days,” McIlroy said after finishing on 12-under.  

“But yeah, I played the par fives much better. That was the difference between the first three days and today. I've played the par fives in six under, which I think got me back to under par for the par fives for the week.

“But, yeah, I played much better. And yeah, obviously, a really nice way to sign off the week, last competitive round going into the Ryder Cup. So nice to finish on a high.”

He added: “There's been a lot of talk and a lot of chat and a lot of thinking about the Ryder Cup. But you still want to play well this week. I saw a glimpse of that. There were a lot of birdies and eagles and just a few too many bogeys and double-bogeys to have a chance to win, but overall, I'm happy with the week and obviously very excited for what's to come in a couple of weeks' time.

Jon Rahm played down the importance of the VR headsets after shooting 66 to finish a shot ahead of the Holywood star on 13 under.

“VR is never anywhere close real life,” Rahm told Sky Sports of the virtual reality view of the first tee. “You get an idea of what it's going to look like, right, I think ahead of time.

“But we're gonna get that Monday, either way. So I think it was funny first of all, because you can actually hit the tee shot, which is just weird because you have that little controller and swing and they have somebody talking on the headset.  

“I think they found somebody from the Northeast, and I think it is personalised to a person, but it's not even close.  

“It's funny. It's not the same stakes, but I think it's I thought it was really, really fun to just get an idea I was gonna be.

"But I mean, between Monday and Tuesday and then the three practices, three or four practice days, it really, it really won't make a difference.”

Shane Lowry, meanwhile, was heading for a final round in the sixties before he drove out of bounds and ran up a double bogey seven at the 17th.

The Offaly man shot 71 to finish 46th in the clubhouse on eight under.