PARIS -- Michael Jordan met the U.S. Ryder Cup team Wednesday and passed on words of advice on how to block out the noise and cope with playing on the road.
Jordan was a spectator at Paris Saint-Germain's match against Stade Reims on Wednesday, but managed to pay a visit to the U.S. team in Versailles as it stepped up preparations ahead of Friday's start to the Ryder Cup.
Brooks Koepka spoke Thursday of how Jordan "talked about how he didn't hear the crowd" and how he managed the pressure of performing in front of opposing crowds during his distinguished NBA career.
"I took that as, he couldn't wait to shut them up," Koepka said. "And the second he would go off, it was -- you might hear a few boos, whatever it is -- but the quieter they are, you're kind of laughing inside. You've done what you wanted to do, and I thought that was pretty cool."
Rickie Fowler spends time with Jordan in South Florida, where they play golf together. He listened with interest as Jordan spoke of coping with tough opposition and how he mixed up his preparation from home games to away games.
"One that he brought up was, I think they were up 3-0 against Phoenix, and they lost the next two and had to go to Phoenix," Fowler said. "He said he packed one suit and one bag and told the guys, 'We're going there for one job; it's to go win.' And that was just something cool to hear.
"It's fun to have the chance to be around guys like him -- guys that were very successful and guys that compete at a very high level. He competes at a pretty high level in our sport, too. We have some good games at home."
Fowler said he still sees some of Jordan's competitive spirit from his playing days come through when they're together on the golf course.
"I'm definitely privileged to get the amount of time that I do with him," Fowler said. "Hearing his experiences and things he's been through, like how you deal with things or maybe what he thought about or his outlook on what was ahead; I just love being around him. And like I said, we have a lot of matches.
"It's just seeing that competitive side of him and seeing how he deals with, whether you call it pressure or not, but if he has a big putt -- he's got a really good short game -- so when he needs to get something up-and-down at home, it's cool to see him kind of, you know, just give it that little extra focus, kind of get in the zone for a second."