(Reuters) – Rory McIlroy said he is hopeful that a near-capacity crowd will be able to attend the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in September.

McIlroy said organizers had made the right call by deciding not to stage the event without fans last year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m excited for the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy told the European Tour’s website.

“Hopefully, with how the vaccine is being rolled out, we are starting to see some light at the end the tunnel with this pandemic.

“It may not be the full, full capacity that a Ryder Cup usually is, but hopefully it will be very close to what a normal Ryder Cup is and I am excited for that.”

McIlroy, who is playing at the Abu Dhabi Championship this week, said he was in a good frame of mind.

“I’m raring to go after the Christmas break, I’ve done some good practice and you come into the new season with renewed optimism and a lot of goals,” McIlroy said. “I guess that has translated into some good golf here.

“I keep getting myself into contention and someone goes out and has a really good Sunday but I need to take the initiative and have one of those really good Sundays myself to get over the line.”

The Ryder Cup will be held from Sept. 24-26.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)