Bold claim: the U.S. nearly turned the tide in the 2025 Ryder Cup, but the real drama happened off the fairways and under the scoreboard. The Sunday burst by the singles did just enough to avoid a total collapse, yet Europe still carried a commanding lead after two days, becoming the first visiting side to win away since 2012. This outcome sparked plenty of finger-pointing, with captain Keegan Bradley taking the biggest share of criticism, particularly about Bethpage Black’s setup.
Bethpage Black is famed for its toughness, but the course’s rough was trimmed, and rain early in the week softened the greens. The Europeans seized on a red-hot putting display, while the Americans struggled to keep up on greens that seemed less fiery than expected. That tension over the greens spilled into a dispute between the U.S. team and the Bethpage staff, and the speed of the greens appeared to shift as the U.S. started its late surge on Sunday. Bradley faced most of the blame for allegedly dictating how fast the greens should run, but Justin Thomas later confirmed that arguments over green speeds happened throughout the week between the U.S. team and the course staff on aNo Laying Up podcast.
“Why weren’t they at all what Keegan asked for?” Thomas questioned. “Keegan had been clear about a particular speed and wanting it fast enough. I watched them argue we were at 13 on the Stimpmeter. We play golf every week, and TV shows countless putts stopping short. You can’t have putts rolling 3–4 feet past the hole. These greens were slow. Speed them up.”
Thomas added that the situation felt strange for a home Ryder Cup, and while not an excuse for the U.S.’s Friday–Saturday woes, it obviously wasn’t ideal to have the home setup become a potential advantage for the visitors. The PGA of America will need to reflect on this ahead of a future Ryder Cup staged in the United States, ensuring staff can adapt if greens aren’t where the home team wants them. If greens are slower than desired, teams must be ready to explore every option to speed them up, rather than pushing back.
Meanwhile, the U.S. squad must refine their game under less-than-ideal conditions. Softer greens are inherently tougher to quicken, especially after the week’s rain. The decision to cut the rough, which Bradley calls an own goal, may have backfired in the broader context, but he argued the greens’ performance wasn’t entirely his fault.
“I know that once the tournament starts, the Sunday before the Ryder Cup, we lose control of the golf course, the home team,” Bradley said when addressing Thomas’s remarks. “They were given guidelines on where to keep the greens, and they felt they had followed them. They did a great job. It’s hard to pinpoint everything—you want a certain pace, and you’re told it’s there. But the greens are so flat that achieving the exact pace is difficult. The course was in great shape. The Europeans played brilliantly. I wish there was a single scapegoat, but there isn’t. Blame me. I blame myself for that loss. It would be easier to blame them, but we can’t.”
