Golf
Ryder Cup 2025
Europe won the Ryder Cup after holding off a sensational U.S. fightback at Bethpage Black.
Keegan Bradley’s side trailed by seven points heading into the Sunday singles.
The U.S. dominated the session and clawed their way back into contention but Shane Lowry delivered the crucial half-point to retain the trophy.
Tyrrell Hatton then added another half in the penultimate match to ensure an outright, 15-13 victory.
In two days, the Europeans built what seemed to be an insurmountable wall of points at Bethpage Black. Sunday, amid a fervent New York crowd, the Americans nearly climbed over it.
The U.S. pushed the seemingly inevitable celebration back farther than Luke Donald and company could have anticipated, but the Europeans retained the Ryder Cup when Shane Lowry birdied the 18th hole to win half a point against Russell Henley. They later accumulated two more halves to win 15-13 overall.
Here are the top numbers and notes to know from a thrilling final day at Bethpage Black.
Advertisement
My goodness, they actually had Keegan Bradley’s words up on the wall in HUGE letters.
And yes — in the words of my esteemed colleague Craig Chisnall, hang it in the Louvre.
With talk of Luke Donald potentially captaining Europe again and Shane Lowry sinking the putt to ensure Europe retained the Ryder Cup, you could already tell focus was switching to the next edition of this storied event.
That takes place in 2027 at Adare Manor in Ireland. Established in 1995, the course hosted the Irish Open in 2007 and 2008.
It’s going to be a spectacular host of the 46th Ryder Cup too.
This shot from Richard Heathcote is in a league of its own.
The man in the shot, Luke Donald, isn’t fair off being that himself.
Keegan Bradley repeated his sentiments in the Team USA media conference shortly after, adding that he had some ideas for how the rules could be changed — but he would keep those to himself for now.
When the European captain and players then sat in the same seats for their media conference and Luke Donald was asked about Bradley’s comments, several of the players behind him let out an audible laugh.
Donald was clear on his views:
💬 “I think it’s been in place since 1971. The U.S. have used it before. It happened in 1991 with Steve Pate. That was a tight Ryder Cup too, 14.5-13.5 (where the U.S. won). It happened in 1993; Sam Torrance couldn’t play with an injured toe. The U.S. won that one.
“We have a captains’ agreement for a reason, for situations that occur. I want to center it back to Viktor; I would have had absolute faith in him to deliver a point. He couldn’t play and he was gutted.”
This was the U.S. reaction after the event, first from Harris English speaking to the Golf Channel:
💬 “A little soft. I mean, I know Viktor’s hurt. He sent me a text, he came up to me … and the rule is what it is. Hopefully they’ll look at it at some point, but it sucked to not go out there and play today.
“It is what it is, I was part of the crowd and cheering them on as much as I could.”
As for Keegan Bradley, here’s what he said out on the course during the day:
💬 “I mean, it was 25 percent of the points they needed to win. Nothing against Viktor, I’m sure he’s hurt and everything. But that rule has to change. It’s obvious now.
“If a person gets hurt on the football field, you don’t give them seven points if Tom Brady gets hurt.
“Listen, this is part of how the Ryder Cup is … what makes it unique. It’s got different rules and it’s a bummer it had to happen. I’m sure Viktor was really bummed out too.”
Advertisement
One of the legacies this Ryder Cup could enjoy is altering the rules for when a player is injured heading into the Sunday singles — at least, that’s what Keegan Bradley was calling for in the aftermath of Team USA’s defeat.
Viktor Hovland’s neck injury caused him to pull out of his final match, with Harris English nominated to sit down as part of the now famous yet rarely invoked ‘envelope rule’.
As a result both sides halved the point, when Bradley felt the U.S. should have received more.
Fair or not? Let us know: live@theathletic.com — and we’ll bring you the U.S. and European view next …
As Rory McIlroy said from the 18th green on Sunday afternoon …
💬 “What people were saying after Whistling Straits about this decades of American dominance, we took a lot from that. We let that fuel us. We got so lucky in getting an incredible leader in Luke Donald.
“He shepherded us through this whole process and he’s been absolutely amazing. A lot of the credit has to go down to him. Eleven of the 12 players from Rome came back, we did what we needed to do and we’re going to celebrate like there’s no tomorrow.”
We’ll ignore the fact it already is tomorrow — I’m sure they are still going.
Henrik Stenson was a Ryder Cup powerhouse and already an heir apparent to the captaincy, when he was appointed in March 2022 ahead of the following year’s Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome.
Then LIV Golf came along.
Four months later, Stenson was stripped of his contract by the European Tour following his decision to play in the new tournament and a vacancy was created.
So who would fill it? The issue was so many other leading candidates with Ryder Cup pedigree were also signed up to LIV, including Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Graham McDowell.
But that wasn’t the case for Luke Donald, who was a vice-captain at Whistling Straits in 2021 and stepped up to take reins that may have not been placed in front of him without those extraordinary events three years ago.
And in the end, the rest has been both history and historic.
The questions to Luke Donald were persistent from the moment Europe won the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage: what about 2027?
Each one of those he dismissed or declined to open up at. It’s an answer for another day.
However, it is also worth reflecting on how Donald even ended up being European captain in the first place ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome …
For those of you wondering, these were the various celebration outfits from 1987, 1995, 2004 and 2012 respectively — including one face that may be slightly more familiar than the other three …
Advertisement
More recently — and more evidence as to why Luke Donald has completely nailed the job of being a Ryder Cup captain — was this answer.
It was to our own Gabby Herzig who asked about the theme that underpinned Europe’s Bethpage campaign, and it involved so many minor details — including the kit worn by the players …
💬 “Well, our theme was we were trying to win for a fifth time away. We talked about it at the beginning of the week. The practice shirts were based off the wins we already had away: 1987, 1995, 2004, 2012. Everything we did was centered around that, and to make the guys feel we had done it quite often.
“In 10 away Ryder Cups since 1983, we had won four of them and come damn close three other times. This wasn’t an impossible task.
“We wanted to inspire them to know it could be done. My job is to give them the reasons to make them believe they can win.”
I thought it was fascinating that Brandel Chamblee took time to highlight the final message from Luke Donald’s speech at the opening ceremony back on Wednesday.
Words directed at the crowd of fans gathered at Bethpage — but actually meant for his players. Here they are again; give them a read with that in mind …
💬 “New York is a place where if you show up with talent and a fighting spirit, the city will get behind you — although maybe not if you’re wearing European blue this week.
“We know what awaits us. Beth Page isn’t exactly shy. This is New York sports country: passionate, loyal and ferociously loud. Rightly so. You the fans here respect effort over ego. You show up for those who grind, fight and rise for the big occasions. You make us earn every cheer.
“We may not be your team but we will give you something to respect. Something to admire. And maybe by the end of this week something to cheer for.”
That last part got a reaction that suggested the crowd wanted to applaud the words, but knew they couldn’t.
In the end, the words proved profound.
I feel safe in saying Keegan Bradley won’t be captaining the American squad at the Ryder Cup again. So who will Team USA go to for the 2027 edition at Adare Manor?
It is a great question. Do the Americans go back to the well with Davis Love III or Steve Stricker? Love and Stricker captained the U.S. teams to victories at the 2016 and 2021 Ryder Cups, respectively.
Brandt Snedeker, one of the vice captains for Team USA this year, could also be an option. He finished a perfect 3-0-0 for the Americans in their 2016 win at Hazeltine.
But the big elephant (cat?) in the room is Tiger Woods. It would be fascinating to see the 15-time major champion captaining Team USA as they try to win a road Ryder Cup for the first time since the Belfry in 1993.
Although the drama we saw today was incredible, to me the crowds at Bethpage Black were an embarrassment to the nation they represented.
The treatment that followed Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry around the course in yesterday’s fourball was nothing short of disgusting, including a beer can being thrown from the crowd towards the head of McIlroy’s wife, Erica.
Thankfully, I’m fully confident the fans at Adare Manor in two years won’t behave the same way.
But the PGA of America has a serious problem to solve when the Ryder Cup returns to these shores at Hazeltine in 2029.
Shane Lowry’s putt to retain the Ryder Cup will be etched into the lore of this event for years to come. But it is what happened after that will stay with me.
Draped with Ireland flag, Lowry was tearing up. He was emotional in the interview, demonstrating how much this event means to him.
Lowry won The Open at Portrush. But winning the Ryder Cup means more to him. To see grown men cry demonstrates the power and emotion of this event.
An incredible scene at the 18th green of Bethpage Black.
Advertisement
It was a stellar week for New York native Cameron Young. He finished 3-1 for Team USA, including a critical singles match win over Justin Rose at the start of the day.
Young had a 3-up lead over Rose on the back nine before the experienced European player rallied. It was all square going to the 18th.
Young had a putt to win the match and drained it. Seeing someone who doesn’t typically show much emotion become expressive after winning the match highlights the power of the Ryder Cup.
Expect Young to be on future Ryder Cup teams.
Justin Thomas knows how to rev up a crowd. He was made for Sunday singles and he delivered again today at the Ryder Cup.
Thomas’ rally against Tommy Fleetwood added to his accomplished resume. His winning putt on the 18th hole — the rousing roar, pumping up the crowd — made my eyes widen and jaw drop with excitement.
It ensured Thomas remained unbeaten in Ryder Cup singles play. Even though Team USA didn’t complete the comeback, Thomas’ win was a rare highlight of the weekend for the home team.
My colleague Lukas Weese was all over the Sunday singles action at Bethpage. His magic moments from an incredible day are coming next …