American players were greeted with cheers when they walked over the bridge at Medinah on Tuesday. It's just an indication of the support that is to follow.
The Ryder Cup is a great showdown between American golfers and their European counterparts and practice day at the Medinah Club showed once again to the Europeans how challenging it would be to play in front of a hostile crowd.
Swede Peter Hanson, who strongly believes in the benefits of playing at home, commented: "We talked a lot about it and there's no doubt, playing at home is a big advantage.
"We saw it last time in Wales, and we have seen it over here in the past. So I think it's just something we have to deal with, and we have to be stronger this time than we were the last time when we won by one point. So if we are going to get that cup back overseas, we know we have to perform very well."
Home advantage can be a deciding factor very often and the players realize how important it is. They certainly can't forget the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor last time when the hosts Europe won by just one point owing it to home advantage.
Hanson is with, Francesco Molinari, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy representing Europe, when they made their first Ryder Cup appearance before a home crowd. They could, perhaps get some advice from Graeme McDowell, who made his debut four years ago in Kentucky.
McDowell supported Hanson's point of view. "There's no doubt, there's a world of difference between playing in front of your home fans and playing in front of the U.S. fans," he said. "Putts that drop in front of your home fans was like a bomb going off, and putts that go in this weekend will be like someone's got a silencer on. It's kind of a muted applause."
Justin Rose added: "I have a feeling that Chicago might be even more boisterous. Having played more and more golf over here, I feel more ready for this Ryder Cup than I did the last Ryder Cup.
"But I don't think you can sort of ever know exactly what to expect with a Ryder Cup environment. It happens so rarely that we get to play in this environment that you just have to roll with it, I guess, and feed off it and be resilient out there, as well, because there's going to be a lot of things that happen on the golf course that ... just aren't normal to you."
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