Ryder Cup captains Luke Donald (left) and Keegan Bradley spoke at a “one year out” Ryder Cup event in New York City.
By Darren Carroll, PGA of America
Even now, almost a year out from the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on New York’s Long Island, the idea of what this event might look, feel and sound like looms like a gathering storm. This won’t have the pastoral elegance of Gleneagles in Scotland or the American heartland vibes of Medinah and Whistling Straits. Taking the Ryder Cup to Bethpage Black is taking it to the streets. It’s Madison Square Garden when the Knicks are on a roll, Yankee Stadium when the pinstripes are in the playoffs and Springsteen ripping through “Badlands” in the Meadowlands. The game’s most passionate event set among a red, white and blue New York fan base that can be as rough and rowdy as a roadhouse Saturday night is both enthralling and discomforting.
The Ryder Cup is about the golf being played – the 28 matches and all the drama that comes with those – but this one will also be about the environment, which features one of the brawniest golf courses in the world and galleries that won’t be afraid to let their feelings show.
“This is a big event. We’re all grown-ups and we know how tough it is to play at an away Ryder Cup. I have total faith in the fans of New York to cheer on their team loudly and proudly,” said U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, who will play to the galleries’ emotional support. “I don’t want them to do anything to cross the line of fair play, but it’s going to be a tough atmosphere. When you play Bethpage in a major championship, you’re prepared that this will be an atmosphere you’re not used to.”
Luke Donald, who will try to join Tony Jacklin as the only European captains to win the Ryder Cup at home and away, has a sense of what his team will face next fall. “The Ryder Cup is special because it is spirited,” Donald said at a ‘one year out’ media session Tuesday in New York City. “If there is anything inappropriate, they will deal with it. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be feisty. It’s going to be spirited.”
The Europeans’ resounding 2023 victory led to Donald being asked to remain as captain, knowing his team will face a decidedly different challenge coming to America. The last time the Ryder Cup was won by the visiting team was in 2012 at Medinah when the Europeans managed a one-point victory. Since then, the matches have been lopsided in favor of the home team, which has won by an average of 6.6 points in those events. The Americans have won at Hazeltine and Whistling Straits, and the Europeans have rolled to victories at Gleneagles, Le Golf National near Paris and, last year, at Marco Simone outside Rome.
“The advantage we had in Rome is you feel that energy and you can feed off it,” said Donald, a 46-year-old Englishman who played college golf at Northwestern, married an American woman and has won five times on the PGA Tour. “When we come to New York, it will be pro-American. Because New York is more a melting pot, there will be some support we didn’t have at Whistling Straits. “You want it to be energetic. You want it to have a lot of energy. There’s no better place than New York to get that energy.”
Both Bradley and Donald spoke of the “energy” at Bethpage.
Bradley has been playing Bethpage Black since his college days at nearby St. John’s University. He’s been part of a major championship, the 2019 PGA, at the state park course. As a native New Englander and passionate fan of Boston-area pro sports teams, he fully understands how loud and rowdy New York fans can be.
“It’s going to be an intense environment for both teams,” Bradley said. “New York is an incredible place to play, but they expect you to win. We know we have to go out there and perform to have the fans behind [us].”
Bethpage Black is a long, big and demanding layout, and with a spectacular finishing stretch. Organizers are also planning to alter the par-4 first hole, building a new tee to accommodate stadium-like grandstands around the first tee while potentially making the opening hole a drivable par-4.
Donald and Bradley expect to have the players they want next September regardless of their ties to LIV Golf. European players who have maintained their membership on the DP World Tour will be eligible. Bradley said he will be free to have whom he wants on his 12-player roster (including six captain’s picks), opening a path for LIV’s Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka to be on the team.
“I’m going to take the 12 best players,” Bradley said. “[The Europeans] are going to love coming into Bethpage and trying to shut up the fans and the players. It’s a very unifying thing to be on a team and come into a hostile environment.” – Keegan Bradley
Though the Europeans have won five of the past seven Ryder Cups, the Americans figure to be favored in part because of the setting. Bradley’s team will be built around Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, while the Europeans figure to have Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm among their leaders.
“When you’re playing an away Ryder Cup, I think you have to be the underdog,” Donald said. Bradley also believes there is a benefit to being an underdog, not that he wants to surrender the built-in advantage for the Americans. “[The Europeans] are going to love coming into Bethpage and trying to shut up the fans and the players. It’s a very unifying thing to be on a team and come into a hostile environment,” Bradley said. “Obviously, the home team has a bit of an advantage, but they come in as ‘us against the world,’ and that’s a great advantage.”
