We are six months out from the competition beginning at Whistling Straits for the Ryder Cup. The clock is ticking, and the excitement is building.
Lance Allan of TMJ4 Sports: "What is the excitement level for you and all involved, six months out?"
"Yeah, I'd say it definitely remains high," Director of Ryder Cup Jason Mengel says. "And kind of one thing that's interesting that I'll use is like the workload and the pace around the office. I'd say it feels much more like a normal event year, so I think that's a good sign. My story is the same as everybody's, that at times it felt like the longest year ever. And yet here we are, a year past postponement and getting ready to be six months out again. It's a very exciting time."
Lance Allan: "There could be up to 40,000 fans at Whistling Straits with social distancing and guidelines. And now we see sports, you know, the Brewers come out with their plan. The Bucks, all that stuff. Fingers crossed that you have that many fans or what is the current plan?"
"Yeah, I certainly don't want to speculate on numbers today or anything like that. But it is our hope anyway to have a fully attended event. But you know, there's a lot of things that really need to go right that are out of our direct control over the next few months, so fingers crossed is a good way to put it," Mengel says.
Numbers are uncertain to the pandemic. Originally the Kohler Company estimated visitors and fans could bring $135 million to the regional economy. The last Ryder Cup held in France pumped more than $200 million into their economy. The last held on U.S. soil was in Minnesota in 2016, which was estimated to bring in between $100 and $130 million.
