9/24/25

Not often do players in their sport get to represent something bigger than themselves. This week, the golf and sports world descends on the public golf course of Bethpage Black on Long Island in New York. The 12 players on each side will play for their country, in the Americans’ case, and their continent, in the Europeans’ case. The home team has won the last five Ryder Cups, and every time the biennial event is played, the stakes, passion, and jingoism get turned up a few notches. There isn’t an event in golf comparable to the Ryder Cup. It stands alone and the test of time.

Europe took the United States to the woodshed in Rome, winning 16.5 to 11.5. The United States has won the last two Ryder Cups on American soil. In 2016 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota, Davis Love III captained the Americans to a resounding 17-11 win. That Ryder Cup was most famous for Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed’s epic Sunday Singles match, where the two had a spirited but respectful match that saw Reed win the match and give the Americans the boost they needed to snatch the Ryder Cup away from Europe after three straight defeats. In 2021 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, the United States beat Europe in the largest margin of victory under the current format of the Ryder Cup. An incredible 19-9 win, where Dustin Johnson went 5-0-0 and won every session but the Saturday Fourball, which was halved 2-2.

However, the Europeans are the last team to win on foreign soil, and they did so in a dramatic fashion in 2012. The “Miracle at Medinah,” as it’s so famously refered to, occurred when the United States was winning 10-6 going into Sunday Singles. Europe stormed back, winning the first five matches and 8.5 of a possible 12 points on the final day to retain the Ryder Cup and crush the dreams of the United States winning back-to-back Ryder Cups on home soil.

Bethpage Black has hosted three major championships. The 2002 U.S. Open won by Tiger Woods, the 2009 U.S. Open won by Lucas Glover in a Monday finish due to weather, and the 2019 PGA Championship won by Brooks Koepka. All three of those major winners at Bethpage are Americans, but aren’t on the team as either a captain, vice captain, or player.

The captains are Keegan Bradley for the United States and Luke Donald for Europe. Bradley was controversially left off the 2023 Ryder Cup team, a move that was shown on Netflix’s Full Swing. Bradley is a two-time Ryder Cupper, playing in 2012 and 2014. Bradley went to college at St. John’s University, which is located in Queens, New York City, not far from Bethpage. Bradley hasn’t served as a vice captain before, but has experience playing with Phil Mickelson in the 2012 Ryder Cup, one of America’s best Ryder Cup players of recent memory.

Luke Donald was the captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 2023, after Henrik Stenson was told he wouldn’t keep his status as captain after going to LIV Golf. Donald led his team to come out swinging, as the Europeans swept the first session, something that hadn’t happened in the history of the Ryder Cup for Europe. They would go on to win easily over the United States, and he was a popular pick to come back as captain for 2025. Donald is a former number-one player in the world, and despite never winning a major, won four Ryder Cups as a player in 2004, 2006, 2010, and 2012, and of course in 2023 as the captain.

The Ryder Cup does something to players that no other event can do. It alters who the players are. Ian Poulter only finished in the top five of majors three times out of 72 times he teed it up at a major. In the Ryder Cup, he was the biggest thorn in the Americans’ side, leading with passion, incredible play, and a flair for the dramatic. Patrick Reed made a name for himself in 2016 as “Captain America” and showed a side of himself that no one knew he had, playing up to the crowd as if he were conducting an orchestra. Someone for each side will lead their team with gusto, vociferous celebrations, and tremendous play, and will be remembered as a Ryder Cup hero forever.

It feels like Europe is due to swoop in and win one of these. Europe going back to Luke Donald as captain, and 11 of the 12 players from the 2023 team provide an extremely valuable continuity. Europe at least brings the possibility of winning on the road, while under recent captaincies for the United States, there wasn’t any. They use such a meticulous process that the captain, vice captains, and players all buy into, believe in, and trust. For the United States to win, the players must lean into the passionate fans of New York. They need to feed off their energy and use it to overwhelm Europe. One of the four Ryder Cup rookies has to step up with a winning record, and the top guys of Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau will be relied on heavily this week to bring in a lot of points.

My pick is Europe wins 15-13 in one of the closest Ryder Cups of recent memory.

The pressure, patriotism, and energy of the Ryder Cup make it must-see TV every two years. This year will be no different and will evoke new memories for golf and sports fans around the world.

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