The final day of the Ryder Cup produced some pure sporting drama, with the Americans nearly producing a comeback from the ages before being thwarted by Shane Lowry and co.
Lowry landed the decisive putt that retained the cup for Europe, after a nervy few hours where it looked like the partisan American crowd were about to be vindicated against all odds.
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Tensions had been running high since Saturday, when Lowry and Rory McIlroy were viciously targeted by hordes of supporters at Bethpage, and there was certainly a bite to Sunday’s deciding round of singles matches.
Though the disgraceful antics of the New York crowd deservedly earned most of the criticism over the weekend, one European star came under fire for his apparent gamesmanship during the singles session.
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Smylie Kaufman not happy with Justin Rose’s final round antics
28 September 2025; Europe captain Luke Donald lifts the Ryder Cup, alongside players including Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre on day three of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course in Farmingdale, New York, USA. Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Sportsfile
Justin Rose was a pivotal player for Team Europe across the weekend at the Ryder Cup, winning two points alongside Tommy Fleetwood in the four-balls on both Friday and Saturday.
However, he would come up just short in his quest to take a clean sweep across his three games, losing by one to Cameron Young in Sunday’s singles.
Despite coming out on the losing side, Rose’s antics at the 13th on Sunday have come under fire from PGA Tour winner Smylie Kaufman.
At the 13th, Rose hit his second shot close to the stands, way off to the right of the hole. This allowed him to take relief, but a lengthy process meant he took almost 15 minutes to take his third shot.
Rose and rules officials had a prolonged debate over the fairest spot to take his drop shot, with his caddie delaying the process significantly. Eventually, US captain Keegan Bradley intervened to complain about how long the process was taking – it would still take another five minutes until the shot was taken. Frustratingly for the US, Rose’s shot was eventually taken from the initially proposed drop zone.
Speaking on his podcast The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman suggested Rose was more than happy to halt Young’s momentum, with the American three up through 12.
Remember he’s three up, Cam Young is…now Cam Young misses the putt, Justin Rose makes. Justin Rose birdies the next hole and is somehow one down heading into 15.
The only last thing I’ll say is that walking down the 14th hole, Keegan is wearing out this rules official, because the rules officials need to be more direct and if a player asks what their options are, they need to tell them what they are and be quick in the process. A player can’t slow play a situation like what happened at the 13th hole today.
I felt like it crossed the line, because you owe it to the player you’re playing with to play with a pace that is supposed to be respectful. I thought it got out of hand there at 13 with the drop. Yes, it was confusing and challenging to figure out, but that’s why you have three rules officials walking with every single group to be able to give quick feedback on what the player’s options are.
Kaufman had already shared his displeasure with the incident on Twitter.
“This entire ruling situation was bizarre today at 13,” Kaufman wrote on Sunday.
“It took entirely too long and Keegan had every right to step in to try to hurry up the process.”
Ultimately, it did not prove to be a deciding factor in Europe’s narrow Ryder Cup victory, with Young prevailing by the conclusion of the match.
However, it certainly arrested some American momentum at a time when the pendulum appeared to be tipping in their favour.
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