For some people at the Ryder Cup the tournament was a snooze. Literally.
A shocking number of spectators have turned the legendary Bethpage Black course in Long Island into their personal king-sized bed, as they were spotted passed out from exhaustion or drinking in the grass and trees of the tract during this week’s Ryder Cup.
“I went on Friday, and it was crazy. Even at 9 a.m. I saw a man passed out on one of the muddy hills,” said Daniel Manzouri, 39, who lives in Williamsburg and works in sales. “I probably saw between 10 and 12 people throughout the day asleep on the lawn.
“People would walk by them and be like, ‘Are you ok buddy?’”
Before attending the Ryder Cup — which ends Sunday — he assumed the tournament would exude a certain sophistication.
“Some tickets cost an upward of $1,500 so I thought it would be this classy thing, but it was debaucherous,” he said. “I saw people peeing in bottles because they didn’t want to wait in line for porta-potties. People were changing all sorts of crazy things like profanity. I even saw some Europeans fighting with American fans. It was fist fighting, and security had to break it up.”
“You would think at an event with a high ticket price you would think people would behave,” he added. “It was kind of a s–t show.”
The tournament has ample opportunities for drinking. Videos circulating TikTok show crowds waiting in line at 9 a.m. for beer tents to open.
Bars served Michelob Ultra ($15); Bud Light Selzer ($16); Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut ($22); and William Hill North Coast Chardonnay ($14). Four specialty cocktails were on offer including the Cherry Fairway Fizz, which came with a moonshine made for the Ryder Cup, and a limited-edition Ryder-Cup Rubber Duck. Patrons could also buy blood Marys, margaritas, and mules.
Still, Manzouri was surprised people appeared to have gotten so drunk considering all food from the cheeseburgers to the Italian sausages to chicken sandwiches were complimentary. Tournament goers could pick up free water and Gatorade whenever they wanted. “They must have been drinking on the train or the bus or in their Uber before they even arrived,” he said. “How else could you get that drunk by 9 a.m.?”
Other people were not surprised by how many grown men they saw passed out throughout the day.
“I heard the Ryder Cup was a good time,” said a 30-something publicist who lives in New York City.
She saw two adult males asleep on the grass throughout the day.
“The one I saw in the morning I’m not sure if he was drunk but the afternoon gentlemen was 100 percent passed the f–k out,” she said. “They were both on their sides.”
The fan believes the early morning start — gates open at 5 a.m., and many golf lovers run inside to get a good seat in a stadium‚ and the fact that people are there all day in the hot sun contributed to the free-for-all-sleeping arrangements. She also noted that people who bought ground passes didn’t have a perch to rest, so why not take to the grass? (They must not know about or care about Long Island’s tick problem.)
As she put it, “I figured it was par for the course.”
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