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October 2, 2025The Sad Legacy of this year's Ryder Cup
I love the Ryder Cup. I love the passion in the players that is always on full display. I love match play, the matches within matches, and the clash of personalities against egos. I love Friday morning matches that actually matter. I love the strategy behind the pairings and the subtle gamesmanship. I love crowds that cheer and show their loyalties. I love that golf tests your core strengths while exposing your weaknesses. I love that captains must make tough decisions, knowing they will be second-guessed. I love greatness—and great golf—emerging in ultra-pressure situations.
But this Ryder Cup should be a blueprint for what not to do. You cannot bring such a prestigious event to a place where bedlam and chaos are almost guaranteed. New Yorkers are known for being loud, raucous, and often obscene. There should have been strict safeguards to prevent that kind of behavior. This is supposed to be a gentleman's sport, not a hockey-like brawl. Shame on the PGA of America for allowing it to get out of hand. I'm just glad no one was injured. As a PGA member, I apologize.
If you can look past the ugliness of the crowd, there was great golf played. Bethpage Black is a monster of a course, but it was reduced to a pussycat last week. I've played it and can attest to its severity. Yet with generous fairways, virtually no rough, lift-clean-and-place rules, and soft greens, the course lost its bite. That setup was Captain Keegan Bradley's first mistake, and it backfired.
Friday morning, the Americans needed a fast start. Losing early matches is ominous if you hope to win the Cup. Bryson DeChambeau teamed with Justin Thomas against Europe's best foursome team, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. It was strength against strength, but three players performed while Thomas faltered, and the U.S. was drilled. The second match seemed like a U.S. lock—world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler paired with steady, straight-hitting Russell Henley. Instead, there was no chemistry, and they lost convincingly to Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick. Then, with their backs to the wall, Bradley sent out Harris English and Collin Morikawa against Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. With no alpha leader to rally the team, they looked outmatched from the start and lost decisively. Only Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay managed to salvage a point, giving the morning session a faint glimmer of hope.
The afternoon matches effectively sealed the Americans' fate. Scheffler and J.J. Spaun lost easily to Rahm and Sepp Straka, while Justin Rose and Fleetwood dispatched DeChambeau and Ben Griffin. By the end of Friday, Europe led 5½ to 1½. The match was essentially over.
There were, however, bright spots for the U.S. Cameron Young emerged as a star. Whenever the team needed a clutch shot, he delivered. His only loss came with Thomas in Saturday's four-ball, when they fell on the 18th hole to McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Young finished with three points, all statement wins. Schauffele also finished with three points and one loss, as expected. The biggest disappointment was Scheffler, who managed just one win against four losses. How does the best player in the world struggle so much? Simple—his partners often failed to contribute, and his putter went cold. Even when paired effectively with Bryson, they ran into a buzzsaw in Rose and Fleetwood. Rose made nine birdies in 16 holes, answering every U.S. highlight with an even better shot of his own. By the end of day two, the score was 11½ to 4½. Sunday singles became little more than a formality. To their credit, the Americans fought hard, winning six matches, tying four, and losing just one. Add another half point when Viktor Hovland was forced to withdraw due to injury, and the final margin was 15–13. The score looked close, but the reality was clear—the match had long been decided.
What went wrong? Keegan Bradley was a good choice as captain, and his leadership and commitment were beyond question. But he made mistakes. The course setup was too soft. Some pairings—especially Morikawa and English—were never competitive. The Scheffler–Henley pairing seemed like a natural fit, but it collapsed completely. If just one of those matchups had worked, the outcome might have been very different. On the other side, Luke Donald pushed all the right buttons. He had a battle-tested team that returned 11 of the 12 players from their victory in Italy two years ago. He knew which friendships worked and which pairings clicked. Bradley, by contrast, had just one proven duo in Schauffele and Cantlay. Donald had a blueprint; Bradley had to guess.
I watched nearly 90 percent of the matches. My conclusion: the Europeans simply played better. They had more players capable of withstanding the hostile crowds and more who thrived under this type of pressure. Every time the Americans produced a great shot, Europe answered with something even better. They played superior golf, and they showed grace and sportsmanship in the process.
The final legacy of this Ryder Cup is twofold. Europe deserved their win, playing brilliantly under fire. But New York's poor sportsmanship and the PGA of America's failure to protect the spirit of the event will be remembered just as much. A sad legacy that will forever be tied to the 45th playing of the Ryder Cup.
