U.S. Rookies Brian Harman and Max Homa Ready (Kinda) for Road Ryder Cup

Harman faced hostile crowds in winning the British Open in July, but he acknowledges that there's no way to prepare for European Ryder Cup crowds.

ROME — Brian Harman is in the unique position of being the oldest player on the U.S. Ryder Cup team while also being a rookie.

The winner of the British Open in July at Royal Liverpool, Harman, 36, has enjoyed a successful career, having come up through a strong college golf program at Georgia while competing in team events.

But the Ryder Cup is a different deal, especially overseas. Harman got a taste of negative crowd reaction on his way to victory at the Open, something he said helped spur him. Can it have the same effect at Marco Simone Golf Club?

Even he is not sure.

Max Homa (left) and Brian Harman are two of four rookies on the U.S. Ryder Cup team :: Alessandra Tarantino/AP

"I don't think there's any way to prepare for it," Harman said Wednesday during a news conference. “I expect them to be as fervent and I expect to be at times overwhelmed by it, just like I was at the Open championship. It was overwhelming at times.

“The best you can do is just acknowledge it and just move forward and try not to let it affect you as best you can. But it will affect you. You'd be silly not to think that—obviously the home teams in the Ryder Cups have been extremely successful, and a lot of that has to do with the fans. They can affect outcomes of matches.

"It's just our job to try to stay as present as possible and execute more than the other guys and see what happens."

The U.S. has not won in Europe since 2023. The Europeans have not won in the United States since 2012 and prior to that in 2004. And the last four Ryder Cups, all won by the home team, have not been particularly close, with the slimmest margin five points.

"I think as you ratchet up different levels of sports, we're at the top of our sport, and the fan engagement just gets higher and higher and higher," Harman said. "To say I'll be ready for Friday morning or Friday afternoon, I don't think there's any way you're ever totally ready.

"It's kind of like if you're trying to give someone advice if they're about to have their first child. There's nothing you can tell them to get them ready for it. No, your life is going to change, it's going to be really hard, but you'll get through it. There's lots of people that have done it, and it's up to you how you handle it."

Harman is one of four rookies on the U.S. team along with Sam Burns, Max Homa and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark.

Homa, who played in the Presidents Cup last year in Charlotte, is also unsure what to expect.

"I don't know what it feels like yet," he said. “I guess like the concept of it ... if you can flip it in your mind that every time they're not cheering, that's great. If you can get it into your mind that you'd like to make a bunch of people sad, it's also great. I feel like that's something I've been thinking of.

"I nerded out and watched a bunch of the old away Ryder Cups on YouTube and just started really enjoying the silence because it meant that our team was doing well."