The longest wait in golf has only a few hours left. At long last, we’re nearing the Ryder Cup’s first tee shot in New York, and the GOLF.com team has been taking in these painstaking final few hours from up close.
There’s still some time before the best in the world get started at Bethpage Black on Friday morning, but we’ve learned plenty over the opening few days. With the Opening Ceremonies moved up on account of rain in the forecast, we’re doing the same with our first observations from the on-site crew.
James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): Alright gang, let’s start with an easy one: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned over the first three days at Bethpage?
Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): It has nothing to do with the players. I am most surprised at how the ticket market has completely flipped and suddenly Wednesday and Thursday practice round tickets were very attainable. As in just $40 when they were priced north of $200 to begin with. I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something amiss with that original price, the actual value you receive as a fan on these practice round days, and what the market eventually cratered too. Someone at GOLF.com shall investigate.
Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): I was surprised to walk the course and see how un-rough the rough really is. I knew they’d given it a good haircut. I knew the American side considers it an advantage to limit the damage of a wayward tee shot. But I’m also used to Bethpage serving up a major-championship worthy, U.S. Open-style test. In reality, the conditions that Colgan and Co. play at Bethpage on a weekly basis are tougher than what the world’s best will tackle this week. Dart-fest incoming.
James: As our crew’s native Long Islander, I’ve been surprised to see (and hear) the pearl-clutching over the crowd. Yeah, the expectation is that things will be loud and boisterous and maybe a little over the top. But the suggestion that New Yorkers are somehow infinitely worse than any other Ryder Cup crowd strikes me as a little tropey. My culture is not a costume!
Speaking of costumes… Patrick Cantlay arrived on site with a fitting hat, and another Ryder Cup pay controversy has (thus far) been avoided. In its place, who or what do you think will become the biggest story of tournament week?
Sean: This may be a longshot, but it could become the week of Rory vs. Americans. There is already a simmering angst between McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau. There’s a Who’s Best is Best thing between Europe’s leader and Scottie Scheffler, World No. 1. There’s a complicated relationship between McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay. How about between McIlroy and Keegan Bradley, who lost a singles match to Rory the last time the Euros won on American soil? Add all of that to the fact that McIlroy’s very publicly voiced some controversial opinions and has even flip-flopped on some of those and you get a character who has earned some ire in these parts. I look forward to seeing if that bubbles over in a big way…
Dylan: If we were in Europe, the home crowd would triple down on the money stuff. This is already a major talking point on site, this idea that the Americans are greedy individualists, and it’s already taken on a life of its own. I don’t think this storyline is anywhere near as sinister as the Euros would have you believe — it’s sort of silly that the players shouldn’t get paid for this mega-spectacle, and from what we’ve heard, every American seems set on donating most of their stipend money to charity — but why miss the chance to seize the moral high ground against your opponents?
Anyway, we’re very much not in Europe. So I’d expect Rory, the fans and at least one chippy American are going to result in another fun stir.
James: We know from covering this event every two years that somebody will emerge as a Ryder Cup hero over the next five days. In Rome it was Ludvig Aberg. In Whistling, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau.
Between the five rookies — J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin, Russell Henley, Cam Young and Rasmus Hojgaard — and the many journeymen, who’s this year’s secret weapon?
Sean: It’s bound to be Cameron Young, the native New Yawka who happens to be playing the best golf of his life. He could easily be paired with the human lightning rod that is DeChambeau and end up riding that wave to a bunch of points.
Dylan: I’ll double down on Young. He’s been on fire and he plays well in this part of the country. I also found his introduction at the opening ceremony particularly moving; I doubt a soft-spoken Tour pro like Young has ever felt the crowd’s embrace the way he did when Captain Bradley introduced him as “New York’s own.”
James: Based on what you’ve seen over the practice round days and what you know about these teams, who leaves this week with the most points earned?
Sean: Tommy Fleetwood. Playing the best golf of his life, is eminently pairable with anyone, and is likely to play alongside Rory McIlroy. That’s a recipe for 4.5 or more.
James: I think it’s got to be Bryson. He’s a “gladiator golfer,” as Xander Schauffele put it the other day, and this is the best environment he’ll have played in since his transition into a content megastar.
Dylan: I assume we’re all just passing over Scottie Scheffler because he’s the chalk pick, right?! Anyway, gimme Cam Young to go 4-0-0. He seems comfortable with himself and with his place on this team in a way that I’ve never seen him before.
James: Give me a short answer here: Which pairing from either side do you MOST want to see?
I’ll start: Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau have been playing in practice rounds together, and I think they’d be a near-perfect match. They’re different players, but they’re both high-energy, high-intensity guys, and JT has shown he can match Bryson’s showman streak.
Sean: This is by no means a sexy pick, but I like to think of myself as analytically minded, and I just think Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa could be a perfect match, pun intended. They won an important match in Rome that is understandably forgotten. Morikawa needs the good juju to inject into his game before 2026. Burns needs a rebound to repair his shaky Ryder Cup reputation, which he doesn’t even deserve! So lock those boys in for three matches together and make me feel good as a prognosticator.
Dylan: I’ll give you one on each side: For the Euros, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton make for a fun but also particularly volatile pairing; are we getting club throws? Maniacal laughs? Ham-and-egg birdies the whole way ’round? On the American side, gimme the rookie pairing of Ben Griffin and (once again) Cameron Young, who could both come truly alive in this setting. (Also, to Sean’s point — if Sam Burns is gonna make some big-time putts like he did in Montreal last year, he could be a major factor.)
James: OK — and now the all-important finisher. What’s the final score, and who wins?
Sean: Europe makes everyone very nervous by quieting the crowd on Friday and Saturday, leading 9-7 entering Sunday, but the Americans rally for a 15-13 win and Bethpage is minted as a fantastic, iconic Ryder Cup venue. Keegan Bradley then secretly tells every player on his team that he’ll be captaining them again at Adare Manor.
Dethier: Captaining them again — and playing alongside them, too. I’ve got Team USA, 15.5-12.5, but it won’t feel safe until Russell Henley’s statement singles win Sunday afternoon.
Colgan: 14-14. Europe retains the Cup.