FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK | Dare we utter the two most terrifying words for the American Ryder Cup team?
Task force.
Despite a spirited singles fightback that erased almost all of the largest deficit in modern Ryder Cup history (seven points) and forged a remarkable 15-13 result, it goes down as another defeat at the hands of the European team. The week, however, raises serious questions about fan behavior crossing the line of human decency and how the PGA of America needs to confront it going forward.
Europe has won 13 of the last 20 Ryder Cups (with one tie to retain) and 11 of the last 15. It won for the fifth time on U.S. soil since 1985, something the U.S. has not done in more than three decades in Europe.
It hasn’t even been very competitive recently and didn’t look like it would be this time either until the U.S. mounted a singles charge for the ages. The last time a Ryder Cup was decided by fewer than five points were consecutive 14½-13½ tussles in 2010 and ’12 – and of course the Euros won both of those.
It’s the provincialism that gives the Ryder Cup its heart, but only the European team seems able to consistently reach its soul. Better planning, better messaging, better captaining, better cohesion and better putting usually add up to the Euros simply being better.
No task force can fix that. But a task force should convene to determine how to create a truly zero-tolerance policy for boorishness. Because the out-of-line behavior leaves a bad taste with everybody after what should be the great experience of their careers.
BIRDIE: Shane Lowry. When the Irishman secured retention of the Ryder Cup with a 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to pick up a half point against Russell Henley, he exulted like a teenage girl who just got to meet Taylor Swift. “I’ve been so lucky to experience amazing things in this game,” said the 2019 Open champion at Royal Portrush. “That was the hardest couple of hours of my whole life, honestly. I just can’t believe that putt went in. I said to Darren [Reynolds, his caddie] walking down 18, I said, ‘I have a chance to do the coolest thing in my life here.’ The Ryder Cup means everything to me.”
BOGEY: New York, New York? The reputation of Gotham fans took a hit with the deadest first-tee atmosphere Ryder Cup veterans have ever experienced. Lowry appreciated a Friday morning lull-breaker song from the Euros: “Is this a library?” No need for shushing. Part blame may be due to the expansive buildout around first tee and 18th green, but it was pretty weak stuff from the home crowd.
OB: Ugly Americans. As the beer flowed, the crowds got loud … in the worst and most obnoxious ways. The vile and vulgar taunts hurled at the visitors – especially but not remotely exclusive to Rory McIlroy – were relentless and merciless. Frankly it’s embarrassing to all of us. The restraint shown by the players was remarkable. There was nothing clever or good-natured about it. It’s up to the best of us to police the worst of us by shouting down their disgraceful behavior and shutting them up.
DOUBLE BOGEY: Heather McMahan. The comedian’s awkward attempts to stoke the first tee crowd hit rock bottom when she led profane chants of “(Bleep) you Rory!” The PGA of America, released a statement that McMahan sent an apology to McIlroy and would not return in her capacity as emcee on Sunday.
BIRDIE: McIlroy. All credit to the most recently minted career slammer for not letting all the fan B.S. distract him from answering with his clubs and never losing a team match. While at times it hurt and clearly bothered one of the world’s most respectful players (whose wife, Erica, had to leave because of the behavior and later had a drink thrown on her), it also seemed to fuel his thirst to shut them up and bury them in blue. It lit a fire in his mate Lowry as well. Bad idea.
BIRDIE: Tommy Fleetwood. One of the classiest and nicest players in golf also endured aggressively abusive personal invectives thrown at him (and his wife, Clare) and all he did was burnish a reputation as one of the greatest European Ryder Cuppers with an 11-4-2 record that ranks among the highest winning percentages (.647) of any Euro with at least 10 matches played. He was also recognized with the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award honoring the player who best represents the spirit of the Ryder Cup. Bravo Tommy Boy.
BOGEY: Envelope, please. It’s time the Ryder Cup changed its injury policy where each team puts a name in an envelope and that player gets to share a half point with a injured player who can’t compete in singles. It should use the Solheim Cup rule where any player who can’t play forfeits the full point. Viktor Hovland sitting out got Europe a half point that ultimately proved consequential in winning back the cup. That ain’t right.
BOGEY: Scottie Scheffler. For all Tiger’s greatness, his legacy in Ryder Cups was that of a below-average, under-achieving journeyman. Tiger was part of only one winning team in eight appearances and had a 13-21-3 (.351) match record. Scheffler was part of one winning team as a rookie at Whistling Straits and is now 3-6-3 (.250) in three RC starts. This is one place the world No. 1 doesn’t want to be compared to Tiger. He avoided become first American to go 0-5 by beating McIlroy in singles.
BOGEY: Bryson DeChambeau. He brought the energy and some inspired play, but for all his brash bravado he got only 1½ points in five sessions. That’s not good enough despite his strong comeback from 5 down to earn a half-point in singles. Moreover, engaging in a shouting match with Justin Rose and Fleetwood because he got his feelings hurt after this caddie was asked to get out of the way because it was Rose’s turn to putt in an intense match was not a good look.
BIRDIE: Jon Rahm. LIV Golf has not dulled his passion and only solidified his unblemished partnership with Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton. And like his muse Seve Ballesteros, the Spaniard only lifts his partners up as he did with the recently struggling Sepp Straka.
EAGLE: Goosebumps. Nobody beats the European tour in producing hype videos that move the soul. “Our Time, Our Place” is a unifying motivational video that incorporates all of the 37 Euros who collected four prior wins on U.S. soil (including five of the exiled LIV Golf stars), and it tugs at the heart with the Ryder Cup’s greatest icon – Seve Ballesteros – who forged his and succeeding generations of Europeans into a force the Americans struggle to match.
BIRDIE: Luke Donald. Europe’s second choice in 2023 may go down as its greatest leader. “Cool hand” Luke has not made a misstep in two dominant victories at home and away. Before just passing the baton to presumptive successor Justin Rose, they should seriously consider giving him a third run at it in 2027 at Adare Manor.
BIRDIE: Matt Fitzpatrick. Forget his prior 1-7 Ryder Cup record and the dismal form he carried in the spring, Fitz rose to the occasion for the Euros with a sterling and inspired effort going 2-1 in team matches including a crushing blow in the Saturday anchor four-ball with late substitute partner Tyrrell Hatton. His half point in singles proved huge in the end.
BOGEY: Keegan Bradley. He may have been better off playing and handing the reins to one of his assistants. None of his moves before the singles batting order panned out, from sending DeChambeau out first to playing Collin Morikawa and Harris English twice in foursomes to having Scheffler and Henley tee off on the wrong holes in foursomes the first day. The hole was too big for even the greatest singles effort to fill, leaving him with another Ryder Cup heartbreak.
PAR: Patrick Cantlay. Even without his best stuff, he is a burr in Europe’s (especially Rory’s) bonnet and was the only thing holding Team USA’s hopes together on a brutal opening day of hole digging. Of course, if he’d made a 2-footer on 14 late Friday he could have been a bigger pest.
BOGEY: Gala attire. Whether it was Ralph Lauren’s idea, captain Bradley’s or the collective U.S. team’s preference, showing up to a formal affair in white sneakers and no ties while everyone’s wives and girlfriends (and the whole European team) are dressed to the nines is gauche. Who cares what the kids today think; Arnie would have been appalled.
BIRDIE: Nick Faldo. It was nice hearing Faldo back on the broadcast and his rapport with Notah Begay was at times more entertaining than the golf.
BOGEY: Black Course. WARNING: The American setup crew defanged the vaunted Black Course and turned it into a pitch-and-putting contest for highly skilled golfers. Nobody needs another task force to know that Team USA never seems to fare very well in putting contests against Europeans.
BIRDIE: Cameron Young. A rare bright spot in the American gloom was Young, the local favorite who probably should have played more but earned the leadoff spot in Sunday singles hoping to provide a spark. He led all Americans by winning 19 holes and three points. His strong play bodes well for future Ryder Cups.
BOGEY: Justin Leonard. Must have come as quite a surprise to the 1997 Open champion at home in Texas (not to mention the 2013 U.S. Open champ from England on stage) when Bradley said during the opening ceremony: “The Ryder Cup became personal for me in 1999 at Brookline. I was 13 years old, perched on my dad’s shoulders watching Justin Rose’s miracle putt drop on 17.” Doh!
BOGEY: Cell phones. Maybe the Ryder Cup needs to let Augusta National run the show. Not only would the rude fan behavior be muzzled but cell phones would be banished. The ubiquitousness of fans holding phone cameras up for meaningless videos has ruined the atmosphere and any positive engagement that once made the Ryder Cup special. Get out of your pocket and in the moment.
BOGEY: Bagel boys. Scheffler was joined by Morikawa, English, Henley and the largely overlooked Ben Griffin in getting zero points in foursomes or four-balls. Scheffler and Griffin picked up big wins in singles while Henley, Morikawa and English (via forfeit) left with only a half point each to avoid getting skunked.
BOGEY: Politics. The 2025 Ryder Cup could have used a lot less – preferably none – of it.
BOGEY: Money talk. Honestly, it should be no big deal that a small portion of the hundreds of millions that the Ryder Cup generates goes to U.S. player charities and a relatively small stipend to players themselves. It’s rich that the Euros take the high road on pay after a whole generation of presumed captains was lost to LIV defectors who chased the money. But it’s an own goal by Team USA on the PR front, especially since they got paid $200,000 for a less-than-stellar overall performance.