Team Europe outlasted Team USA to take home the Ryder Cup for the second time in a row, the first win on United States soil since 2012, after an exhilarating final day at historic Bethpage Black.
Overview of how the contest works
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between the United States and Europe. The Cup’s roots trace all the way back to 1927 when the U.S. team defeated Great Britain in Worcester, MA. Since then, the former British team has expanded to include players from all over continental Europe. Unlike most PGA events, the Ryder Cup has no prize money and uses a match play format. As a result of these conditions, the two teams battle over three grueling days of golf for nothing but the pride of their homeland.
Day 1
The stage seemed set for American dominance at the 2025 Ryder Cup, as patrons filled the grandstands as early as 5 a.m. Bryson DeChambeau’s nuclear missile of a tee shot on the first hole only electrified the crowd even more. However, Europe weathered the storm of rowdy American fans and let their chemistry shine through. The pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy played near-perfect golf, and the clutch shots of Jon Rahm frustrated the American pairings. When the morning Foursomes play was finished, Europe had a commanding 3-1 lead.
An appearance from President Donald Trump, his granddaughter Kai and four U.S. fighter jets before the second session of the day promised to give the American team the adrenaline it needed for four-ball play. It did not. The Europeans took it to the Americans in the afternoon, too, making the clutch putts where the Americans could not. In the face of the heckling home crowd, McIlroy sank several long putts and gave the patrons some of their own medicine, yelling out, “Come on! Let’s f—-ing go!” McIlroy’s tenacity helped the Europeans extend their lead to 5.5-2.5 in the afternoon.
Day 2
The European dominance continued on Saturday, as they became the first road team ever to sweep the opening four sessions of a Ryder Cup. The USA could not find a groove, despite all the talent on their team. This was certainly not helped by World ranked No. 1 Scottie Scheffler going 0-4-0 through the first four sessions. Scheffler became the first ever No. 1 ranked player to go winless through Foursomes and four balls at the Ryder Cup, and Scheffler is now winless over the last two playings of the event dating back to 2023 in Rome. Fleetwood of Team Europe was having the opposite effect on his team, starting 4-0-0 at Bethpage Black. The reigning tour championship winner nearly scored as many points himself (4) as the entire team USA (4.5) through Saturday.
On Saturday alone, Europe led for a whopping 76 combined holes over eight matches – compared to just six for the USA. With an advantage of 11.5-4.5, Europe held the largest advantage entering Sunday singles in modern Ryder Cup history.
Day 3
There was no shortage of drama on the final day as Viktor Hovland’s neck injury required him to pull out of his matchup on Sunday with Harris English. The “Envelope Rule” meant both Hovland and English would share the point up for grabs, which ended up proving critical in Europe’s two-point victory. Keegan Bradley was noticeably dismayed with the enactment of the Envelope Rule. When asked about the USA Captain’s comments during his post-match interview, Luke Donald was clearly dismissive, pointing to the multiple times the United States used the same rule in tight victories. Donald argued, “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. It happened in 1993; Sam Torrance couldn’t play with an injured toe. The U.S. won that one.” But after the dust settled, the result solidified. Europe emerged with a 14-15 victory thanks to a clutch six-foot put from Shane Lowry to earn Europe their 14th point to retain the trophy, and then a final shot from Tyrrell Hatton to split his match with Colin Morikawa to win the Ryder Cup outright.