Golf’s most anticipated event left American fans sulking from a dominant performance by Team Europe at Bethpage Black.
Farmingdale, New York, is home to one of the greatest and most difficult golf courses in the world, Bethpage Black. With millions of players coming through each year, the course’s demand is so high that players stay overnight in their cars to get a tee time. Designed in 1936, Bethpage Black is one of the only courses in America that is a part of a state park, meaning locals pay much less to play. Having only one renovation in 2015, the old design is still intact, with tight fairways and small, fast greens. Bethpage Black comes with a sign posted outside the first tee that reads, “The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.” Those ‘Highly Skilled Golfers’ made their way to the first tee on Friday, 9/26, for the commencement of the 2025 Ryder Cup.
Ryder Cup format and scoring
The Ryder Cup is played every other year, and since 1927, Team USA leads Europe 27-16 in victories. There are three different formats used by the Ryder Cup for every matchup, all following a match-play scoring style. Friday and Saturday at the Ryder Cup feature two versus two matches, with many players competing in 36 holes per day. Each match is worth one point for a victory, and a half point for a tie, and Team Europe needed 14 points to retain the Ryder Cup.
Since there are 12 players on each team, eight players play first, and then four sub out at the Captain’s discretion. The four matches on Friday and Saturday are for Alternate shot, and the final four are for best ball. The best score on the hole wins, and a tie is a push, so winning a hole is critical for momentum. On Sunday, the captain lines up their whole team and sends them out on one-on-one matches, each for a point.
Team Europe played their best golf in Rome for the 2023 Ryder Cup and looked to continue their carnage. The Americans needed to defend their home turf as the favorites, but they sat at the base of a tall mountain.
Friday foursomes: Fleetwood surges
The crowd at Bethpage Black for the start of the Ryder Cup buzzed, and the energy seemed unmatched. Every group that went off in front of them received a few roars and many boos directed at Team Europe. The first group for Team USA birdied the first hole and went one up on Team Europe, setting themselves up nicely. This buzz did not last long, however.
Team Europe succeeded on Friday in the best way possible, picking each other up in the low moments. Whenever Team USA went for control of the match, Team Europe answered back with a big shot. The home-field advantage for Team USA proved not important, as Team Europe out-gained Team USA on the putting green by a significant margin. Team USA never found an answer for Team Europe’s exceptional play on Friday.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood handled business in both of his two vs two matches on Friday. In the morning, he and Rory McIlroy defeated Colin Morikawa and Harris English with four holes to play. In the afternoon, paired with Justin Rose, took down two crowd favorites, Bryson DeChambeau and Ben Griffin. Fleetwood did not need to hit a big momentum-shifting putt all day, as he and his playing partner held the lead for nearly the entirety of each match. He was right there to stick an iron shot close or drain a long birdie putt, stripping Team USA of any opportunity.
Team Europe led Team USA 5.5-2.5 going into Saturday.
Saturday foursomes: Stop the count
Saturday at Bethpage Black showed the golf world that Team USA is not as tightly-knit as people thought. Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Young led a commanding victory over Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg for a point. Following that match, Team Europe put the pedal to the medal. Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood defeated Colin Morikawa and Harris English for the second time. Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton beat a great match-play duo in Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. Robert McIntyre and Viktor Hovland took down World #1 Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley. With an 8.5 – 3.5 lead, Team Europe did not intend on looking back.
In the Afternoon, Team Europe continued to attack, trying to drown out Team USA in dramatic fashion. Team USA was lucky to escape with one point in the afternoon from J.J. Spaun and Xander Schauffele. Tommy Fleetwood finished the first two days as the only player in the field with a perfect 4-0 record. Whatever Team USA needed to pull off to make it close, Team Europe did right back to them. Team Europe surely took the crowd out of play, but there are always exceptions who go overboard.
The American crowd became restless on Saturday, shouting obscene things in the direction of European players. The anger and frustration from the crowd disturbed the pace of play on multiple occasions, especially with Rory McIlroy. On the green during a Saturday afternoon match, McIlroy protested the crowd by waiting several minutes to play his ball. As much of a “challenging day” as it was for McIlroy and company, Team Europe sat comfortably going into Sunday.
Team Europe led Team USA 11.5 – 4.5 before Sunday singles.
Sunday singles: A fight until the very end
Team Europe suffocated Team USA. The crowd became less and less of a factor each day, and the energy favored everyone but Team USA. The largest comeback in Sunday singles history was four points, completed by Team Europe in 2012. Team USA could only afford one loss and a tie if they were going to steal the cup from Europe. Viktor Hovland of Team Europe injured himself during a Saturday match, so he withdrew from Sunday’s match. This withdrawal gave Team USA and Team Europe a half-point.
With their backs against the wall, Team USA began on track to do the impossible and pull off the comeback. Cameron Young and Justin Thomas secured two points for Team USA in the electrifying first two matches. Bryson DeChambeau fought all the way back from down five holes to tie with Matt Fitzpatrick in a battle. Team Europe’s Ludvig Aberg took a point from Patrick Cantlay in their match, putting Team Europe within a half point of winning the Ryder Cup.
In a World #1 vs World #2 matchup, Scottie Scheffler defeated Rory McIlroy, collecting another point. Two more points came in from Xander Schauffele and J.J. Spaun, with commanding victories before the 18th hole. Team Europe fell back on their heels, clearly struggling without the teammate format for a safety blanket. The Americans took advantage from tee-to-green, outscoring the Europeans, who looked unstoppable on Friday and Saturday.
In the match between Russell Henley and Shane Lowry, Henley led by one going into the final hole. If they tied the hole, Team USA got another point. If Lowry won the hole, Team Europe won the Ryder Cup. They both found the green on their approach, but Lowry landed just inside Henley for a birdie putt. Henley’s putt ended up just short of the hole, giving Lowry the chance to put it away. Lowry’s putt dropped to the bottom of the cup, and the away European fans erupted, as despair fell over the American crowd.
Team Europe secured their first road Ryder Cup victory since 2012, when they toppled Team USA in Chicago.
Post-tournament analysis
Team USA got outplayed on their home turf, plain and simple. Captain Keegan Bradley is bound to hear it from the American fans, but he doesn’t control the play. When Team USA thought they had the crowd on their side, Team Europe silenced and shut them down.
The Ryder Cup obviously means more to the European players than it does to the Americans. Team Europe worked off of one another so well, and Team USA looked like they were playing for individual performance. Team USA playing so poorly and having the crowd get in the way of play is a root cause for the fire that Team Europe played with. Judging by the attitudes of both teams, Team USA showed little interest in winning compared to Team Europe.
The reign of European dominance should be in everyone’s conversation, as they showed they can win anywhere. Sure, Team USA could’ve shocked the world and beaten Team Europe, but making them the favorite pre-tournament proved the expectations were too high. Every duo that European Captain Luke Donald put on the course looked like they were ride-or-die together. That bond was hard to find on Team USA’s side.
The next Ryder Cup is in Adare Manor, in Limerick, Ireland, and the expectations for Team USA will be low.
