Oh, What Could Have Been
For four years we sat and waited. After trouncing Team Europe at Whistling Straits in 2021, we heard all about how crazy a Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black would be. We got killed in Rome – expected – but it was all going to be worth the wait. The U.S. was going to have the craziest (not best) sports fans in the world breathing down the European’s necks. It was supposed to be amazing. I even bought a hat before the event started – something I never do – but it was going to be this amazing event and I wanted to be a small part of it.
The build-up for the 2025 Ryder Cup was nothing like we’d ever seen before; Team USA went to Napa to play the fall opener, the Procore Championship. Even Bryson DeChambeau, who is not on the PGA TOUR, even showed up for the team bonding event.
Once the team got to Bethpage, the hype was there. It looked like the U.S. Team couldn’t lose: they got to choose the set up, they had the fire power, and had won three of the four majors earlier in the year, but as soon as the matches of the 45th Ryder Cup began, something was off.
Team Europe came out of the gates hot, winning the first session 3-1, something you would expect to see if the matches were in Europe. The U.S. Team would’ve been swept except for a valiant display by Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. The afternoon was only marginally better, with the U.S. grabbing 1.5 points. Saturday was even worse, with Europe winning 6 out of the 8 points up for grabs.
Saturday night was depressing for U.S. golf fans: we had been told how great of an event this was going to be, and it was falling flat. The U.S. had the chance to do something magical, and midnight just struck too early.
But on Sunday, something different happened. The U.S. Team came out of the gates hot, putting points on the board left and right, and what looked like a mathematical impossibility – a U.S. victory – actually became possible. The U.S. came within inches (quite literally) tying or winning the matches. The U.S. grabbed 8.5 of the 10 points necessary to win, and could’ve won more had it come down to the final matches.
The 2025 Ryder Cup had the chance to be something so special for American Golf. YouTube golf was exploding, more people were into the game than ever before, and the U.S. Team could not get it done. Their captain, Keegan Bradley, hadn’t opened his 2012 Ryder Cup bag since he got home from the last U.S. loss on home soil, vowing he would only look inside once he made the team again. As captain, he had a chance to put those demons down forever, instead, he came up a few putts short.