The Battle At Bethpage, My Ryder Cup Recap
- thebogeymenpod
- Oct 3
- 5 min read
The dust has finally settled — and so has my heart rate. A few days on, we can all enjoy the fact that Europe has won (not just retained, Don Rea!) the Ryder Cup.
Honestly, the overwhelming emotion over the past four days has been relief. Living in a world where American fans wouldn’t EVER stop reminding us that Rory McIlroy and Team Europe had “choked away” a win would have been unbearable. Thankfully, we don’t have to.
Europe’s fast start couldn’t have gone much better. Winning the opening session 3–1 was both unexpected and a little unnerving. I’d run a poll across The Bogey Men socials the night before, and the consensus was clear: fans would have been happy with 2–2 after foursomes. Anyone claiming they knew Europe would steamroll JT, Bryson, Scottie, and Henley is talking out both sides of their mouth.
I fully expected the US to wake up Friday afternoon, play their own ball, and even things up heading into Saturday. Boy, was I wrong. As more blue filled the board (2.5–1.5 to Europe), I started to relax — but even with Scottie and Bryson continuing to underperform, Cameron Young and Ben Griffin showed real flashes of quality. Young carried JT and handled the nerves of being a New Yorker in a home Ryder Cup, dispatching Åberg & Højgaard. Griffin, despite losing to Tommy & Justin, actually contributed more often than Bryson: Griffin registered a score on nine holes, Bryson just seven. So when Griffin didn’t feature on Saturday, I was stunned — and, frankly, relieved.
Michael and I watched Saturday’s matches together, and as the morning foursomes ended, the atmosphere seemed to flatten. Reports about the tone of the crowd turning nasty started pouring in.
I won’t rehash all the details of the abuse directed at Rory, Shane, and their families — it’s already been widely covered, and more videos keep surfacing. But we knew this crowd would cross the line. The fact that the PGA of America didn’t have a plan to deal with it is shocking — a dereliction of duty. Rory and Shane came across like brothers, standing up for each other. Naturally, everyone has a breaking point, and it was only a matter of time before they responded to the vitriol with a few fireballs of their own.
Some critics, including former Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger, said Rory should have shown more restraint. Azinger accused him of double standards, pointing to Rory’s own “f*** you” retorts and claiming you can’t demand higher standards of decorum while firing back at fans.
“Today, in the press conference, after it’s over, he’s saying golf should be held to a higher standard of decorum. But in the meantime, he says ‘f*** you’, ‘f*** you’, ‘f*** you’ in full voice for the world to see. He turns around and says to the guy, ‘shut the f*** up.’ The person in the media asked him today, ‘How did that feel, Rory, telling the guy to “shut the f*** up” and then hitting it to two feet?’ and he said, ‘It felt pretty effing good.’”
“And I’m like, which is it, Rory? Is it that golf is held to a higher standard? Or are you just going to ‘f*** you’ the fans and act like that’s okay? So, I love Rory, you know that, but you can’t say that. You can’t say the fans need to behave better and then, in the meantime, lambast them. You can’t do both; you’ve got to be one or the other.”
Respectfully, Zinger doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The fact Rory held out as long as he did before snapping back is remarkable.
What disappointed me most was that not one American player — not Keegan, not JT, not Scottie — stepped up to call out their fans’ behaviour. Yes, it’s unpopular to take on a home crowd, but what’s right isn’t always easy. Had someone with influence spoken up, it would have carried real weight.
Still, going into Saturday night, I was confident — downright comfortable — that Europe would cruise to victory, maybe even record a historic win. For the sake of competition, I was wrong.
The US finally showed pride. Cam Young, JT, and Bryson all delivered on the 18th, with Bryson mounting an epic comeback from 5-down through seven holes. But my appreciation for the drama quickly gave way to dread: the board was awash in red, and for a moment it looked like we might be witnessing the greatest collapse in Ryder Cup history.
And then came Shane Lowry. Birdies on three of his last four holes turned the tide and secured what will be remembered as the winning moment of the Ryder Cup. Lowry now joins Eamonn Darcy and Philip Walton on the list of Irish golfers who clinched victory in the US, extending Ireland’s incredible relationship with this competition.
Watching Team Europe finally celebrate was pure joy — especially after such a bruising three days. What struck me most was Rory’s absence for a long stretch after his match ended. I can only assume he needed a moment to himself, to process everything before joining the party. When he did emerge, the celebration was glorious: champagne showers, roaring fans, and a team united.
Looking ahead to Adare Manor in 2027, there are two things I hope don’t change. First, the fans. European fans — despite what Keegan Bradley might say — don’t cross the line into abuse or threatening language. The second thing is the ‘Envelope Rule’, shocker the team that lost the competition don’t like the rule but I’m sure Team America were more than happy with the rule in 1991 when they won the Ryder Cup 14.5 to 13.5. Golf is a game of integrity and the Ryder Cup is the event which created possibly the greatest display of sportsmanship in sport with “the concession” and the envelope rule is perfectly in keeping with this sense of integrity.
At the end of the day, the Ryder Cup once again reminded us why it’s the best event in golf. It’s chaos, it’s nerves, it’s brilliance, and it’s heartbreak, all crammed into three days where every shot feels like it carries the weight of history. Europe stood tall, America fought back, and we have something to argue about for years. See you in Adare!
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