The Loop

Danny Willett's brother goes OFF on American crowds, which does not bode well for Danny Willett this week

September 28, 2016

It doesn't take much for the smallest Ryder Cup moment to be magnified beyond recognition. One needs to look no further than Patrick Reed raising his index finger to his mouth at Gleneagles, a seemingly spontaneous gesture that two years later lives on in countless memes, a belt buckle, and yes, a Golf Digest cover.

Now, if form holds, we can count on some incendiary remarks from the brother of the reigning Masters champion to escalate into something quite larger at Hazeltine. At least here, you can't say you didn't see it coming.

Writing for the website NationalClubGolfer.com, Pete "P.J." Willett, who won so much attention for his hilarious and irreverent tweets while brother Danny was capturing the green jacket at Augusta, opines on how the Europeans need to quiet the partisan crowd in Minnesota. Smart advice there, no question. If the Europeans are to capture a fourth consecutive Ryder Cup, their fortunes might hinge on their ability to suppress any U.S. momentum.

The problem is in HOW P.J. Willett describes the American crowd, which, although admittedly somewhat funny, also provides enough bulletin-board material for the U.S. team that they might need to construct more wall space.

Willett starts innocuously enough, saying that American fans are "brainless." But from there, he says they're "pudgy, basement-dwelling irritants, stuffed on cookie dough and pissy beer, pausing between mouthfuls of hotdog so they can scream 'Baba booey' until their jelly faces turn red."

It goes on from there, with ample veiled references to Donald Trump and American gluttony. Again, not entirely unimaginative, but also the type of incendiary remarks that will certainly circulate among the crowds at Hazeltine, and turn poor brother Danny into an unsuspecting target once play begins.

And lest you think Danny might have called his brother to ask him to retract his remarks, P.J. likely wouldn't have cared. He doubled down in an ensuing tweet.

And it's still only Wednesday.