Former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher is hopeful the Chicago crowds will act accordingly.
Crowds should know where the line is, says Gallacher
Three-time Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher is anticipating a red-hot atmosphere at Medinah.
The 39th Ryder Cup kicks off on Friday morning with huge crowds expected to roar the Americans on and provide a hostile atmosphere for the visiting European team.
Gallacher believes that while home advantage should play a part and that the audience have every right to cheer on their favourites, there is a clear line that must not be crossed.
He told
Sky Sports News:"This is the first time I've managed to get out to Medinah. It's a very impressive place. We're right in the heartland of American here so I expect it to be exceptionally partisan and exceptionally vocal.
"In terms of the atmosphere and noise, would say that we should think of Valhalla, think of Boston... and then double it!
"As long as they don't participate in the match. As long as they don't boo you onto the green or make noise in your backswing, I think it's fair enough. At the K Club, the whole of the Irish nation were there and played a huge part in the European success.
"In Boston, when they ran on the green, that was bad and we wouldn't want to see that again. The crowd will play a big part and I think it will be captain Olazabal's job to prepare his team for that. They're experienced players but I think he'll have to emphasise that it's key not to get annoyed.
"Expectations from the American public are so high that if it starts to go wrong, their players will feel pressure and that's pressure that I don't think the Europeans will suffer from."
Options
Much of the pre-tournament focus has been on world number one Rory McIlroy - but Gallacher stressed that the Ryder Cup is a team event and that Europe possess weapons beyond the Northern Irish youngster.
Gallacher added: "Lee Westwood is a great Ryder Cup player and Luke Donald is playing brilliantly also. Sergio Garcia is also on form and I think the important thing about the hype surrounding Rory McIlroy is that he doesn't believe it himself.
"McIlroy is part of the team. He'll try and do as big a job as possible, but no one player will determine whether we win or lose. He's not like Seve, who was so passionate. McIlroy just puts his head down, bangs his drive down the middle and tries to make the Americans make mistakes."
Pairings
Gallacher expects all the big names to be straight into the cauldron on Friday morning, and believes the American pairings are particularly easy predict.
He said: "Steve Stricker is a wild card and has been brought in to play with Tiger Woods, and Jim Furyk may be the back-up as well. I would expect Tiger to play with either Stricker or Furyk.
"Friday morning is very important... crucial actually. I think that's where we lost it at Valhalla. We lost three points that morning and really didn't manage to pull that back all week.
"We need our captain to put what he considers his strongest side out in order to get ahead. The American captain will be thinking exactly the same thing so you'd expect all the big guns to play."
