We are just nine days away from the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, and the tension is already building. As both teams gear up for the battle toward the end of the month, Justin Rose isn’t holding back.
Speaking to Sky Sports earlier this month, the English veteran revealed that Team Europe has been mentally preparing for this moment for nearly a decade.
And with the Cup heading to New York for the first time, Rose believes the Americans are trying “too hard” to build that team chemistry.
Why is Justin Rose skeptical about Team USA’s bonding?
Bethpage Black will host its first-ever Ryder Cup from Sept. 26–28, but it’s no stranger to chaos.
The Long Island crowd has already made headlines three times before, when Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open in 2002, during Lucas Glover’s 2009 win, and when Brooks Koepka claimed the PGA Championship in 2019.
The atmosphere is expected to be electric, and Rose expects no less than “absolute chaos out there.”
“We’ve been talking about the Ryder Cup in Bethpage probably for 10 years,” Rose told Sky Sports during Q&A ahead of the Rose Ladies Open earlier this month. “The anticipation of it, what it’s going to be like, how intense it’s going to be. New Yorkers are crazy, and I think they become sort of caricatures of themselves.”
But it’s not just the crowd that’s on Rose’s radar. The newly crowned winner of the FedEx St Jude Championship also took aim at Team USA’s approach to bonding under captain Keegan Bradley.
“I think the US team have definitely bonded a lot more in recent years, and I think that they do have pockets of good friendships,” Rose stated during the same conversation. “But I think the Americans have gotten a little bit … they think being a great team is about being best mates. I really don’t think that’s what being a great team is.”
He continued, “Being a great team is having a kind of a real good theme and having an identity that has come from players before you, and you all buy into that vision. You don’t have to be having the greatest time in the world to do that. Although, inevitably, we do have a great time doing that. I think America have tried too hard to become a team, whereas Europe is a bit more natural and organic, and I think it comes from deeper roots in a way.”
Rose’s comments come as Team USA ramps up its prep under Bradley, who has emphasized bonding activities and group dynamics in recent weeks.
But Europe’s veterans, including Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, have leaned into legacy, tradition and shared experience.
For now, Bethpage is ready. The fans are loud. And both teams are locked into grinding practice rounds ahead of the showdown.
