US Ryder Cup operation faces hard questions after home defeat

FARMINGDALE – The home fans on Long Island were treated to a thrilling finish to the 45th Ryder Cup, as the United States nearly completed a historic comeback from seven points down

before falling 15-13 to Team Europe

.

But the event is a three-day competition and the final margin – produced by an 8½-3½ advantage in Sunday singles – obscures the deeper issues at play for the Americans, who were shellacked in foursomes and four-ball.

The US are now 4-11 in the event since 1995. PGA Tour pro Michael Kim, an American, stood out among the many critics looking at the bigger picture on Sept 28.

“I hope this finish doesn’t stop Team USA from looking at the entire process that led to the first two days,” he wrote on X. “Clearly there are issues that need to be fixed.”

What those issues are, exactly, is up for debate.

Speaking to reporters after his team’s narrow loss, first-time captain Keegan Bradley welcomed the brunt of the criticism while defending the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America, which organises the US Ryder Cup team every two years.

“The PGA of America put me in an amazing position to succeed,” he said. “They gave me every resource. They gave me every option. I had everything at my fingertips. This is no one’s fault but mine.”

Bradley went on to insist that Team Europe played better than the Americans, which was a common refrain over Sept 26 and Sept 27, particularly when it came to putting.

With his team seated around him on Sept 28, he was asked what he thought he did not do as well as his European counterpart, Luke Donald. From the far corner of the stage, Justin Thomas cut in and defended his captain.

“We needed to make more putts,” Thomas said. “That’s what Keegan needed, he needed us to make more putts.”

The top point-earners were Xander Schauffele and Ryder Cup rookie Cameron Young, playing not far from his home town of Scarborough, New York, and with all the pressure that entails. They each went 3-1-0 in four matches.

But four players failed to win a single match: Captain’s picks Collin Morikawa and Sam Burns and auto-qualifiers Russell Henley and Harris English. Bryson DeChambeau, described by Bradley at the start of the week as the team’s X factor, went 1-3-1, as did Ryder Cup veteran Patrick Cantlay.

Most disappointing of all was Scottie Scheffler, who became the first player under the current format to play the first four sessions and lose all four. He went head-to-head with McIlroy, the first time the top two in the world rankings faced off in singles, and won 1 up to avoid a dubious 0-5-0 record.

“You absolutely need your big guns to fire,” Donald said. “The US guys’ big guys, their guns, they didn’t get as many points as ours.”

Though some of Bradley’s selections have come into question, the PGA of America may also need to re-examine how the six automatic qualifiers earn their place on the team. Henley and English racked up points over a nearly two-year span but were not in great form at the end of the summer.

The wider American operation also took a hit due to the

subset of fans who hurled verbal abuse towards McIlroy

, his teammates and his wife, including heckling him while he was addressing his ball and preparing to swing. The comedian that the PGA of America hired as a master of ceremonies, Heather McMahan, stepped down late on Sept 27 after she encouraged “f**k you, Rory” chants.

Bradley and Thomas denied they bore any responsibility for the recklessness of those fans.

One mistake Bradley did regret was the way the US laid out Bethpage Black. He expected faster greens, which he believed would give the Americans an advantage because their PGA Tour-seasoned players were more used to speedy greens than Europeans, who spend some or all of their time overseas.

Instead, Europe dominated the putting contest.

“For whatever reason, that wasn’t the right way to set the course up,” Bradley said. “The greens were as soft as I’ve ever seen greens without it raining. Especially here, it can get pretty firm, and they never firmed up.”

Bradley, at 39 the youngest Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer, was seen as a bold choice to shake up the Americans’ doldrums in this event. Until Sunday, the choice was looking like a disaster. It is unclear if he will get the opportunity again.

“It was a unique approach, and like I said, I had to learn on the fly,” he said. “But I also had been on a lot of these teams and I had the resources of all the vice-captains and all the previous captains as well that helped me.

“I think the goal was to give the captaincy a fresh face, a different way to go about things. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. But we have some momentum going forward. I think we can continue down this road and I’ll help out the best I can to help the next captain or the next whoever it is.”

Meanwhile, he called for Ryder Cup rules regarding injured players to be changed after the late withdrawal of Norway’s Viktor Hovland handed Europe a precious half-point and boosted their successful title defence.

Bradley wants the half-point rule in the captains’ agreement tossed out, but Europe captain Donald supported the status quo.
REUTERS, AFP