British fans will outnumber other nations at the 2023 Ryder Cup

• Officials expect 32 percent of supporters to come from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
• There could be up to 15,000 Americans present to roar them each day.
• British fans faced long delays passing through passport control in Rome

British fans will outnumber those of all other nations in the Ryder Cup in Rome, including those of host Italy.

Mail Sport understands European fans from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have secured more tickets than those from any other country for the transatlantic tussle, which begins on Friday.

They are followed by the Americans and in third place the Italians. Behind them come fans from Germany and then from Ireland. In total, people from 80 countries are expected to attend over the duration of the tournament.

While final figures have not yet been calculated, officials expect around 32 per cent (16,000) of the 50,000 expected each day to come from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

As this newspaper revealed, there could be up to 15,000 Americans on hand to roar at Zach Johnson’s visitors each day, with a much larger contingent crossing the Atlantic than the one that traveled to Paris in 2018.

Although Italy is not one of the golf powers, the fact that the tournament is in Rome has boosted ticket sales to place those here in third place in numerical terms.

Meanwhile, hordes of Brits were hit by long queues at Rome airport on Thursday morning and delays of more than an hour at passport control were reported.

The problems were attributed to the fact that, after Brexit, Britons now have to stamp their passports at European airports.

One fan sadly explained: “There are thousands of people from Great Britain coming here to support Europe, but they weren’t allowed through the gates with the flag of the team they were all here to cheer for, which were empty.” The irony was not lost on them!’