Europe’s Ryder Cup team use ‘cheeseheads’ to try and win over local fans

The Ryder Cup tees off on Friday and Europe are aiming to defend their title

Europe are using the cheeseheads to charm the US crowd (Getty Images)

Team Europe are taking the charm route to get US fans on side for the Ryder Cup by wearing Green Bay Packers colours and giving cheesehead souvenirs away.

Players were wearing white tops with green and yellow stripes and cheeseheads, the nickname for Packers fans. The NFL team are based an hour away from where the Ryder Cup is being played at the Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

The event starts on Friday and the team’s captain Padraig Harrington said: “When we were doing the clothing with Loro Piana, they were talking about maybe bringing some Irish colours in for me.

“I’m not really into that sort of stuff, so I came up with why don’t we do something with Wisconsin. Obviously the Green Bay Packers fit both the Irish and the Green Bay Packers, and then the cheeseheads came in and a bit of fun with it.

“Look, it’s lighthearted. You want it that way in practice. It’s somewhat respectful of obviously the Green Bay Packers, and they were very much on board with this, so a bit of fun and we got a nice reception with it. That’s kind of what you want on the practice days.

“Obviously business starts on Friday, but at the moment the players are enjoying it and having a good time of it.”

Harrington, who is aiming to retain the title Europe won in 2018, added the team wanted to show their appreciation for the crowd, especially with the restrictions in place due to the pandemic.

“We obviously can’t sign autographs this week with Covid, which is something that traditionally we would do.

“So these fans have come out and they’ve come out on a cold day. They’ve come out to watch us, and we want to give them something to watch. The Wisconsin fans are very appreciative, so we want to show our appreciation back.”