2009 US Open: New York Crowd Will Play a Leading Role

Very early in the morning, with dew sparkling on tightly cut fairways and white clouds of fog calmly hovering above the greens, Bethpage can appear to be a calm, tranquil place.

But then the front gates are opened and the crowd comes pouring in, and this calm, tranquil place immediately turns in to a three-ring circus.

They’re loud, they’re rowdy, they’re boisterous, and they’re not afraid to openly criticize anyone.

They are: the New York golf fans.

The last time the US Open was held at Bethpage back in 2002, they laughed at Corey Pavin when he was unable to reach the fairway on one of the course’s brutally long par fours; they called Colin Montgomerie "Mrs. Doubtfire"; they tormented Sergio Garcia for taking too long to hit the ball, to the point where Garcia appeared as if he was literally on the verge of walking off the course.

Players will be walking the fairways in front of the same crowd that booed Mickey Mantle, booed Lou Gehrig before finding out that he had a debilitating disease, tore Patrick Ewing apart for not winning them an NBA Championship, and were chasing down Eli Manning with their pitchforks while calling for Tom Coughlin’s head just a couple of a months before the New York Giants won the 2007 Super Bowl.

It is what it is, and they are what they are; unless you at least attempt to embrace them, they will turn on you in a New York minute.

There is, however, a flip side to the New York sports crowd—if you perform well or at least go down fighting, they will love and worship you as if you were a Greek God of the links.

Back in 2002, there was no player at Bethpage embraced by the crowd more than Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson will enter the 2009 US Open as the clear sentimental favorite following his wife, Amy’s, recent diagnosis of breast cancer and you can be assured that the New York crowd’s support for Mickelson will make "Arnie's Army" look as if they were a tiny pocket of rag-tag militia.  

Most players on the PGA Tour come from either the south or southwest regions of the United States, or are coming from overseas.  So, for those who have never played in New York before, it could come as quite a shock when the crowd adores them after a birdie on the first hole and then starts heckling them after a double-bogey on the second.

But, the best way to handle the New York crowd is to simply know that if you go ahead and make another birdie at the third, they will once again love and embrace you as if you were a hometown hero.

If you let them break you, they will.  If you stare them down and keep on playing your game despite all of their heckling and needling, they’ll respect you.  And if you go on to perform well and contend for the US Open title, they’ll love you.

The crowd will certainly be a distraction, and they will certainly break some players just as they did Garcia and Monty back in 2002 and again at the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot.

But, love ‘em or hate ‘em, they create an atmosphere and energy that makes Bethpage one of the most exciting stops on the US Open circuit.