I told everyone so, but nobody wanted to hear it. And now boy genius Keegan Bradley and his band of overpaid, underprepared American Ryder Cuppers have been treated like Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators: hang, drawn, quartered, and their limbs posted upon spikes atop the ball washers of the Black Course as a warning to all others foolhardy enough to try to treat the august, venerable Ryder Cup into a run of the mill football game.
Worse still, America’s reputation as a host – and New York City’s in particular – lies in tatters as 2025 ‘s Ryder Cup will go down as the most uncivil in history, a blight upon the memory and legacy of a man far greater than any of the peons who now stand in supposed stewardship of his once glorious, shining example of cross-continental sportsmanship and camaraderie.
Let’s start at the beginning: Choosing Bethpage was a bilious insult to the ethos of friendship the event is supposed to steward and champion. But everyone else confused loud fans with winning golf. Where were your brains?!
Oh yeah, they listened to that Aristotle, Phil Mickelson.
Speaking of “brains” – and HOLY SCHNIKIES! Do I use that term loosely – this whole disaster was dreamed up by Mickelson. Why should we take his advice on anything?! When he took his own “advice” he ended up hundreds of millions of dollars in debt with Vegas heavies. And he’s further darkened by millions of dollars investigated in shady stock trades. Why would you ever listen to Phil Mickelson for anything remotely like advice? He plays with toys for a living, and he’s made bad life choice after bad life choice. He trashed his reputation and it was his idea that led to a dumpster fire Ryder Cup for America.
Of course it got ugly. It’s New York City. That was intended all along.
Then there’s Keegan Bradley, Captain Useless. Phil Mickelson deserved to be jettisoned as potential captain for his betrayal of the PGA Tour for LIV and the millions he needed to pay off outrageous gambling debts. But Bradley is woefully overrated. He backed into his major when Jason Dufner flushed a five-shot lead over the last three holes of Atlanta Athletic Club in 2011. Bradley picked up a Wanamaker Trophy he found on the ground during a week when any players worth any marquee billing never got started in the right direction. Trick up a milquetoast layout like AAC and you get screwy winners: that’s Bradley. He never validated his win, now did he?
Of course, Bradley was Captain Useless. Nothing he tried worked.
Once again…err…as always, the US lay down like dogs during the alternate shot (foursomes) format. Why? Because they don’t care enough to work on it, that’s why! You can’t win when you spot the opposing team 2-3 points every single Ryder Cup. And don’t even think about whining “Well, if they hadn’t this” and “If they hadn’t that.” Enough. If it’s and buts were candies and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas. We lost again. Badly. Can’t we learn from it?
Heck, from the minute the American team walked out for the “pre-tournament gala” we looked like losers. The Ryder Cup is supposed to be stately and mannerly, not lowbrow. But there go the Americans showing up for a Ryder Cup gala they are hosting dressed without ties and in sneakers. What a bunch of kids.
And that’s the way we – both the American team and fans – acted the whole weekend. The fans never grew up from elementary schoolyard petulance, and the team never played like men until garbage time, or close enough to it to not matter.
Rory is absolutely right. Our fans’ behavior was reprehensible. I had a personal view of it through the journalists’ media feed, where we heard every slur, every slander, and every slight, usually peppered with unprintable curses, that was hurled mercilessly and relentlessly all weekend at the opposing players. Rather than list them here, Golf Digest’s Josh Beall, did a sterling job of bringing to light the conduct the PGA of America and the American sports media gave a wink and a nod to. Those pieces are HERE and HERE, Thank you, Josh, for bringing the voice of the average American sports fan to the forefront – we don’t approve of neanderthal antics in golf.
Let’s just put a little perspective into this classless, “win at all costs attitude” that has infected the Ryder Cup.
No one’s country gets less food if their team loses.
One country doesn’t automatically win all the mineral riches of the other.
The winner doesn’t get to invade and pillage the loser.
It’s just a game. With balls and sticks. And a tiny little metal trophy no one gets to keep forever.
The PGA of America traded golf’s ethos for a shot at keeping that tiny toy-sized trinket for two years.
In the end, despite all the hoopla and holler, the Ryder Cup is just another sporting event on a two-year long calendar instead of a yearly one.
It’s just a game, and a lot of you lost sight of that. And when you lose sight of that in golf, you have lost sight of the game’s soul.
I just returned from a trip to Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club where I saw the majesty and glory of the formative years of the Ryder Cup, unsullied by rampant partisanship, poor sportsmanship, boorish yelling, drunken buffoonery and price gauging at the concession stand and ticket booth. I felt the warm glow of the tournament’s august history and the game’s core virtues: camaraderie, friendship, honor and sportsmanship. What we saw last weekends was light years from that, a caricature of a once noble edifice.
So, the whole 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black was a goatscrew. Not only did the US team stink out loud, the US fans were hideous. If Samuel Ryder were alive, he’d freak. He’d shout like Maximus the Gladiator, “I had a dream that was a sporting golf tournament. This is not it. THIS IS NOT IT!”
The PGA of America have turned the Ryder Cup into a circus maximus, virtue and camaraderie of golf be damned. They got what they deserved, the drubbing of their lives. And the players wanted money for this? Half a million each? Charity or no, here’s my reply: You don’t ever get a cent again until you win back the Cup. Then we’ll talk. And even then, I’d rather you play for country, not wallet.
