Team Europe has come out of the blocks better at the halfway mark of the Ryder Cup 2025. Whereas the home team, USA, has trailed for much of the match so far. The away team senior players have excelled in comparison to the USA team stars. It would tough to be a Captain of this event, especially when you are losing and your team is the home team. Keegan Bradley, in my opinion, is too young for the job in the context of him still performing at the elite level of the US PGA tour. I mean, he qualified for the Ryder Cup as a player in 2025. Here are my Ryder Cup player reviews at Bethpage Black.
European Team Ryder Cup Player Review
Starting with Team Europe at the Ryder Cup after Day 2. Jon Rahm has been sublime and for those of us who refuse to watch LIV golf it has been a welcome return to our screens of this prodigious golfing talent. Rahm has been unbeatable for Team Europe at this Ryder Cup. Rory McIlroy has come of age at this Ryder Cup as the on-field inspiration of this squad. Rock solid in all his matches Rory was the leader that an away team requires. Tommy Fleetwood has been a form player making things happen to win matches in both formats. Matt Fitzpatrick is another golfer in form for this edition of the Ryder Cup.
A step below these titans of golf, but most often getting the job done, have been Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka and Tyrrell Hatton. This international team contest is incredibly challenging, and leaves golfers exposed as to any weaknesses in their games. This is true, especially, of Foursome’s golf. Robert McIntyre is another very talented golfer on the European team. Bobby Mac made some clutch putts and drove the ball super well. The Ryder Cup player reviews at Bethpage Black reckon that Europe is by far the better performing team.
Even so. Some guys are still not much more than rookies in Ryder Cup terms. So far, the Skandies, Ludvig Aberg and Rasmus Hojgaard, have been a mite disappointing. Rasmus is a rookie, and Aberg has not been able to repeat his huge efforts in Rome. These games of golf come down, most often, to a few moments when ice cold blood is required in the veins over a putt to win or tie. The observer can witness these pivotal times on certain holes in matches. The senior team members are more likely to make these moments matter.
https://www.rydercup.com/eu-team-roster
Team USA Ryder Cup Player Reviews
This is a team stacked with world golf talent, as the American teams always are. The biggest failure has, of course, been Scottie Scheffler, the world number one. Scottie has not looked or played like his usual brilliant self. Not making putts and not hitting his irons close to the pin enough in every session so far. He has not managed to win a match out of 4 attempts. Bryson De Chambeau has driven the golf ball really well but has been a little loose with his approach shots. Bryson is the spirit of this team and brings his all to every contest. Patrick Cantlay has been solid without being unstoppable. The good news surprise packet has been rookie Cameron Young, easily the best performer on the US team at this Ryder Cup.
Ryder Cup player reviews at Bethpage Black. Justin Thomas has been patchy with a win and a loss in the Fourballs and a loss in the Foursomes on Days’ One and two. Xander Schaufelle has, likewise, been steady without setting the house on fire. Collin Morikawa, another two-time major winner, hasn’t been great to this point in time. Harris English is a rookie and has been OK without doing anything special. JJ Spaun is another rookie who has stepped up for a win and has looked rock solid as the tournament continues. Russell Henley, another rookie, has not had the same impact. Sam Burns has not putted with his usual razor sharp accuracy up until this point in time.
https://www.rydercup.com/news-media/2025-team-usa-ryder-cup-performance-history
https://www.rydercup.com/scoring
The Americans will need a monumental effort to turn things around on Sunday in the single’s matches. History would tell us that they have Buckley’s chance.
Bad Behaviour Amongst The American Crowd
“A master of ceremonies has stepped down from her role at the Ryder Cup after joining the Bethpage Black crowd in directing expletive-laced chants toward Rory McIlroy.
In a statement released Sunday morning, the PGA of America announced that American comedian and actress Heather McMahan will not return to emcee at the first tee at Bethpage Black.
“Heather McMahan has extended an apology to Rory Mcllroy and Ryder Cup Europe and has stepped down from hosting the first tee of the Ryder Cup,” said the PGA of America, which runs the event.”
The bad behaviour by the Ryder Cup crowd at Bethpage Black has been adjudged as the worst in the history of the event. Could it be the fact that the US now has a President who goes out of his way to insult people, tell lies and attack those he deems his enemies? Has Donald Trump poisoned the air and international golf is merely his latest victim? You cannot deny that a bunch of individuals within the on-course crowd felt entitled to shout abuse at visiting international golfers like Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. I watched several following the golfers and giving them a tirade of filthy verbal abuse. It seemed like officials did little to stop them. Is this the new America? Trump’s America? Maybe golfers will stop coming here if this keeps up?
“Watching the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York is, unfortunately, full of boorish American fans. Loud mouthed American dickheads at the Ryder Cup. These unfunny voices in the crowd suffer from a particularly American condition – where they think everything is about them. It aint! We are watching the best golfers in the world and not tuning in to these f***wits! Calling out abuse to the European players before they hit is not OK. This is not a football match. Toxic masculinity is on display, and it could not be more misplaced.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; Money Matters and America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.
©GolfDom
