LIVE | Press Conference | Captains Luke Donald & Keegan Bradley | Day 2 (PM) | 2025 Ryder Cup

Watch Ryder Cup Captains Luke Donald (Team Europe) and Keegan Bradley (U.S. Team) give separate interviews after the afternoon session on Day 2 of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

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Every two years, 24 of the best players from Europe and the United States go head-to-head in match play competition. The European Team are the reigning champions after winning at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in 2023. Drama, tension, incredible golf, camaraderie and sportsmanship are served in equal measure, captivating an audience of millions around the world. It’s an event that transcends sport, yet remains true to the spirit of its founder, Samuel Ryder. The 2025 Ryder Cup is set to take place at Bethpage Black in New York.

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it’s allowed you to to really dominate that part of the game. I wish there was a a good answer for that one. It’s not like um the guys I told the guys to do to practice this, to practice that. We we we saw some stats um about Beth Paige where you know putting inside six feet had a little bit more relevance than than most weeks. Um but no, these guys are just when it comes to their preparation, I leave that to them. I mean, we give them um a guide to the the course and some of the demands and you know, some of the things that, you know, uh um have proven to be successful in in past tournaments here. But, you know, these guys are 12 very able guys that know how to prepare and get ready. Um, so it’s certainly I’m not going to take credit for that. That’s that is more about their grit and their determination to hold those putts uh more than anything. In the middle here, Mike 7. Luke, you’re very close. What would it mean to you and the team to win on foreign soil and maybe even win in record-breaking style? I mean, it I said it at the beginning of the week, you know, we we came here to try and win uh to try and create history. Um, we know it was going to be a very difficult task looking at past um, RDER Cups, away RDER Cups. You three of the last four haven’t been very close. Um, you know, I didn’t expect to have as big a lead like this. Um, you know, a lot of things have gone gone well for us, but very happy with how strong our team is. um the the firepower they have, the intensity, the it’s kind of the anti-fragile mentality. You know, things got tougher out there and they got, you know, it fired them up even more. They they they were able to get better through those through those difficult um you know, moments out there. So, um that is what makes me most proud as a captain. Um just their ability to take the punches and come back even stronger. Can you elaborate on some of the difficult moments? What was your perspective of the fan behavior and did it cross a line in your opinion? It was loud. It was raw cuz you know what I consider crossing line is personal insults and and and you know making sounds, you know, when they’re trying to hit um on their back swings or um you know, very close to when they’re trying to go into their routines. That did happen a little bit. It’s it’s happened to other rider cups, too. um something we prepared for and I can see uh you know I think how how well they’ve dealt with it. Top right corner there, Mike 15. Luke, I’m sure nobody on your staff expected Scotty Sheoffller to start 0 and4 in this RDER Cup. Just how surprised are you by how that happened and why do you think that’s happened? I have the utmost respect for Scotty Sheffller and what he’s done in the game. Um how he keeps continuing to be he’s going to be one of the greatest players ever to play this game. I mean um the the way he’s been playing the last three or four seasons, it’s uh incredible to watch. Um he’s great for the game but yeah it hasn’t been his time obviously you know um match play playing with a partner it is different you know there’s different scenarios um you have to rely a little bit on your partners as well so you know um it’s hard to do it all by yourself um but you know Scotty Sheffller is is a champion over to Alex Luke could you a give us a status on Victor. Yeah, Victor um he was feeling quite uncomfortable in the middle of the round this morning. He got some physio. He was given a lot of um anti-inflammatories during the round. He finished. He was feeling okay. He went into rest um and then he went back out to the range to try and hit some balls. And when he got to the driver, he hit one, it was very painful. And he hit another one, it got even more painful. And it was that point that he thought, you know, I’m not going to be able to play um to to the level that I I think I can. So, um it was a last minute decision to switch him out. Till literally warmed up for about 10 minutes. Um it we knew it was a possibility, but we were sort of cons we were hoping that he would play. Um he is on his way now to go get an MRI um in G some not around 20 30 minutes away and we’ll we’ll see in the morning what he’s like. It’s it’s definitely stiffened up a little bit. He would love to play um and he’ll do everything he can to play. And and then secondly, as we do since we haven’t talked to your players, um we bandied about the fact that the setup here usually is supposed to favor the home team, but it seems like this week maybe it doesn’t favor the home team. It may actually favor your team. What’s your thoughts on that? um you know the obviously I think it’s it’s quite difficult these days to set up courses to to favor one side you know look at statistically 1 through 12 there’s never a a big margin um between the two teams so again course setup usually is um you’re trying to gain a little bit here a little bit there but it’s it’s it’s pretty fair game you know obviously our guys have have handled uh the setup very well over here a Paul on 14. Luke, a lot of that noise that we heard was kind of centered around Rory and and Shane’s match. Just from them in particular, felt like it almost fired him up. Just how did you kind of see them respond to all that in particular? Look, we uh we talked about that um in the leadup. We’ve talked about it for for for a long time. Um you know, I think people have individually different ways to deal with it. Um, but you know, crowds have energy and you can use it however you want. It’s how you frame it. You know, there’s a stimulus, a response and in between that is how you decide what you want to do with it. Okay? And I think, you know, some people find that motivating. So, you know, sometimes the crowd going at you can be a motivator for some of these players. And I think, you know, Rory and Shane certainly looked like they were sort of almost enjoying uh enjoying the uh the difficult environment out there. And just secondly, we didn’t see Rasmus at all today with a big lead. Maybe you he could have gone out there gotten someone some rest. Just what was kind of the thought of, you know, keeping a lot of your top guys out there? Yeah, we just, you know, we we do not for one minute um are ever complacent about this US team. Um where we’re playing, the environment we’re playing in. Um we knew they were going to come out hard and they did. They did come out hard. We we kept kept it close with a lot of gritty putting. Um and some just amazing shots. But, you know, we Yeah, that was a very tough conversation to have to to tell Raasmus he wasn’t playing. It’s one of those conversations you don’t want to have as a captain to to let someone rest. He But he took it like a champ. Uh he really did. Um he understands the team comes before everything and we wanted to come out strong this afternoon and we did that right here. Adam on four. Luke, uh haven’t seen your picks yet, but I assume they’re in since you’re here. Could you at least give us some insight into your philosophy and how you set things up? Well, I have 12 very good players, so you know, singles, um, you have to go a little bit with gut instincts. You know, we obviously have a big lead. Um, so we have to think about that. We imagine that the US are going to come out pretty strong. um you know and we’re trying to kind of match them with some strength but you know looking at the the last six seven guys I feel like we have some some great strong gritty players as well so it’s hard to you know it’s a hard thing to do u with a big lead but uh I think we are very satisfied myself and the vice captains with that lineup why do you one more if you don’t mind why do you think uh Tommy Fleetwood just been such a menace to the US side in in the RDER Cup. Tommy just loves the team environment. He just loves everything about his teammates, the time we spend together, the experiences that I try and put on for the team. He just revels in it. Um, you know, and you know, I think when you have a player as good as him in a comfortable mindset and in a happy mode, in a happy place, um, you know, that’s that’s a very dangerous Tommy. Mike 13, please. Luke, was there a moment today where the mindset or emotion for you guys shifted from wanting to protect a lead to thinking we can potentially put this out of reach? Our goal is always to win every session, you know, no matter where we are and and that’ll be our goal tomorrow. Um, you know, we love to do things that haven’t been done before. We we’ve achieved quite a few things uh this week already, but the goal for me is um still we’re close to the finish line, but we still have a long way to go. you know, and these guys are very aware of what the difficult environment is going to be like tomorrow. Um, so we’re excited for the challenge. Um, but our goal will be to to win the session tomorrow. Over to Mike one. Look, um, independently of what happens tomorrow, how would you like to be remembered as a captain? H again I think legacy has something to do with winning and losing of course but for me it’s more important um what my teammates think about me as I said from the beginning this week you know my anchors um what’s important to me u means a lot how I go about things the preparation I go into the trust I’ve uh created amongst the team. Um the fact that I do things, you know, I try to do things from a humbling way and an integ integrity way. Um integrity is really just doing the things you say you’re going to do. So I gave the the team a promise that I would prepare as best as I could for them over these last 19 months. And um that’s that’s good enough for me, whatever the result is. Jay, Luke, one more about fan behavior. You mentioned that you had planned for this kind of thing. Now that the now that the yelling has actually started, can you let us in on what those plans were and how they’ve paid off for for the team? It’s a lot of communication. Um you know, there’s lots of other things we’ve done, we’ve learned from each other, um from past RDER Cups. Um but it comes Yeah. You know, again, my preparation started when I became captain. Um you know, I didn’t know what the team was going to look like. I had no idea the 11 from the 12 was going to be back. Um so I was preparing a wider group, you know, for for for all kinds of things. So I think it’s a lot of communication. It’s um a lot of talking. Um and it’s a lot of getting to know the players. you know, if you get to know what makes them tick, how they want to be talked to, um, I think that helps, too. Thanks for your time, Luke. Thank you. United States Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley joins us now. Keegan, what was your message to the team tonight? Um the message was I was at that 283 game against the Falcons. I was there. I was also at the game when Malcolm Butler intercepted uh Russell Wilson against the uh Seahawks. Um but my message was if you were a 16-year-old kid and you were going to get to go play for your country in singles at New York at Beth Page Black, you’d be so excited. Um of course I want to go out there and make history tomorrow. Um, they all do. But I think you got to relish in the opportunity to to get out in the course tomorrow and play for your country at a course like this, at a venue like this. Uh, I think it’s something that you got to look forward to. Thanks, Keegan. We’ll take some questions starting right here on Mike 7. Keegan, you’re a man who famously wears his heart on his sleeve. How are you feeling honestly right now? We We feel good. Like we The Europeans have played incredible. It’s been really impressive to see. This is, you know, for me being up close, I think it’s, you know, one of the best performances of a road team in any sport. They’ve played incredible. They’ve hit they’ve they’ve played great. They’ve putted even better. Um, they’ve come into a hostile environment and played great golf. And, you know, sometimes as a competitor, as an athlete, you have to take a step back and just again sort of tip your cap to something like that. Um, they’ve been a tough team. They’ve partnered great. Luke is an incredible captain. He’s done a great job this week. You mentioned the hostile environment. What was your perspective on that? The behavior of some of the fans. Do you feel as though it crossed the line? I I didn’t see I mean, I thought the fans were passionate. I mean, their their their home team is getting abs getting beat bad. Um, you know, they’re passionate fans. I I think, you know, I I wasn’t at Rome, but I heard a lot of stories that Rome was pretty violent as well. Um, but the fans of New York have that all I’ve seen have been pretty good. You’re always going to have a few people that cross the line, and that’s unfortunate. I I really was happy to see our players trying to quiet down some people that were like that, but, you know, part of it is is our fault. You know, we’re we’re not playing up to the standards that they want to see, and they’re angry, and they should be. Cameron, I know the rain on Thursday probably changed a little bit of how maybe you guys anticipated the course playing, but how closely is it playing to the way maybe you wanted it to or expected it to? Oh man, the Greens are are not where we want they’re super soft. The Greens are great. They roll great, but you know, they’re you’re actually you’re actually better off out of the rough in in uh to a bunch of these flags, a bunch of these pins. Um, you know, sometimes when I would see our guys in the right rough, I would radio back, that’s actually going to be great. You need it out of the rough so it doesn’t spin off the green. Um, I’ve never seen Beth Page Greens play this soft ever. Even when we’ve played here and it’s rained, this is like this is something that I’ve never seen. Chip shots are like spinning backwards. Is that something that’s maybe been a little bit hard for your guys to adjust to even after a couple of days? I think it’s been difficult, but I you know, the the course is in incredible shape. the the people here at Beth Page have done such a great job. What an incredible venue Beth Page Black is. It’s really such a grand stage and a place that we all really look forward to playing. I I hope we come back here for more RDER Cups, more majors, more playoff events, whatever it is. Ryan, on three, everything that happened on uh 15 Green with Justin, Tommy, Scotty, Bryson, is that all put in the past? Did everyone Yeah, I think so. I’ve spoken to everybody in involved. I mean, I think it was a little bit disrespectful, but I mean, I Justin told Rose told me after on the green that they had talked it out. I talked to Bryson. We in sports you like golf, it’s a blown into this huge thing. It happens in sports all the time. Um, they seem fine after the round. Um, you know, it’s it’s super passionate out there, especially for um well, for both sides, but you know, from what I understand, uh, everything was fine after the round. Um, these sort of things happen when you’re playing for your country. Up to Paul. Keegan, when you look at the deficit that you face, do you simply view it as they’ve played better or are there strategic things that have played into kind of the deficit that we see? Well, I think anytime uh you know at a RDER Cup the captain is is is to blame or to be celebrated. So, you know, I we all have to do a better job, but most importantly, I have to do a better job as a captain. And um you know, who knows? I I I feel like the guys have played pretty well. The Europeans have just played like way better. And sometimes that happens. But we still got another day. Who knows? You never know. I didn’t We can go out there and win. We got to What do we got to win? 10. Sports. Wild stuff happens in sports all the time. Up to Mike Nine, please. Keegan, you you said the way your players have played is maybe partly to blame for some of the fans crossing the line. I I did not say that. That’s not what I said. Okay. I said the fans are probably upset that their home team is losing. I did not say that. Okay. Sorry. But do you think maybe do you you you bear some responsibility in terms of some of the words that you and your players use beforehands in terms of stoking up the fans to bring a hostile. What words were those? To bring chaos and just talking up the atmosphere. Color. Yeah. I mean, there’s uh RDER Cups are wild. I don’t appreciate those words that you just said. I know what you’re trying to do. Um the the the RDER Cup is full of passionate fans. Um they’re full of passionate players and that wasn’t right. Shane on 10, Keegan, going back to the putting. Um, this hopefully it’s not an ignorant question, but we’ve heard this a lot that you guys would like the greens to be faster. What is it about faster greens that you felt your team would be better on, if that makes sense? Um, I think historically we play faster greens in the PJ tour than they do. Um, you know, obviously when we go over to the British Open, it’s, you know, the Greens are considerably slower than what we play on in an average week. I think like British Open, they’re around 10, 10 and a half, maybe 11, you know, for us when we we we play at faster greens and then they generally quicken up as the week goes on if the weather is good. But, um, that’s normally what happens. Um, the greens have been perfect this week. Perfect. Uh, the the the golf course is stunning. Uh, real quick as a followup, that I think that was the point of my question is that most of those guys are playing on the PGA Tour quite often, too. But is it the case that you know when they grow up they’re constantly playing slower greens and so maybe naturally even if now they play on the tour that maybe they’re more used to them. Yeah, it could be. Could be. I mean, um I know I have a I struggle a lot when I go over to the British Open and the greens are slow. Like I’ll I’ll have fivefooters and leave them short. Um so it’s an adjustment period, but good good golf doesn’t matter if the greens are really slow, really fast, the rough is really high, really really low. um you you outperform, you’re going to win. And they’ve they’ve played incredible golf so far. Over there to Alex Keegan. Um yesterday when you talked about your plan, um we were all of us were kind of a bit takenback by the Kar Harris English thing. I guess the question is is do you think your plan in normal times was succeeded or do you think it’s just one of those things where this week was such that they were just so good and your team was not? Well, I do know their first match their opponents were I think six or seven under an alternate shot through, you know, 14 holes or whatever, 15 and I forget where they um and then today they were two under through six or seven and they were like two down. So, alternate shot. That’s that’s great playing. Um, you know, we we got a lot of faith in our players. We got a lot of faith Colar Marow’s won a couple majors. Harris has had a great year. Um, you know, I think in the past sometimes we’ve panicked with the pairings and switched everything up and it hasn’t worked out. So, we we wanted to stick with the plan and that’s what we did. Up to Bob on nine. Keegan, uh, any explanation for Scotty? It’s just kind of jarring to see him 0 and4. I realize he’s got a partner and there’s nuance, but you know, it maybe doesn’t seem like he’s playing the same way that, you know, two majors and seven six wins this year. I’m going to tell you a story about what someone said about Scotty Sheffler today on our team, Russell Henley. Um, he said that Scotty had the the weight of the world on his shoulders, his number one player in the world, and Scotty cared more about how Russell was doing than himself. Scotty has been the best teammate in our team room this week, without question. Period. He has been open to any pairing. He has been open to play any session. Five, four, two, didn’t matter. He has wanted he he was one of the first people that said we’re going to go to Napa and play to be prepared. This means everything to him. And this is this is tough. This is what happens in sports all the time. We, you know, you see, you know, somebody you like I said in in here last night, you in golf, you the moment you you want something so bad and you try so hard it you play, you don’t play as well. And when you’re kind of freewheing it and when you I know how it is when you get off to a bad start in the RDER Cup, you really desperately want to help the team. And I’ve been out there with Scott, he’s played great. I mean, he flew in in the hole today. Popped out and came off the green. Like, we’ve had some wacky stuff going on. I can’t express I I I really want to be clear of just what an incredible teammate Scotty Sheffller has been and what an incredible person he is. And um for me watching the team today was one of the proudest moments of my life because when I looked out at the caddies at the players I couldn’t tell what the score was. They were fighting so hard on every point and it would have been easy for guys to get pissed and feel bad for themselves and and kind of mope around. Not a single person did that and Scotty’s at the top of that list. Jay on one. Keegan, you mentioned a few minutes ago that there are things that you could do better as a captain. What would those be? Well, I think just, you know, anytime, you know, I I wouldn’t classify myself as a coach, but you know, you’re you’re the leader of the team when they don’t perform, you have to you have to take responsibility and look at look at how we did it. I’m not saying we’re not going to go out tomorrow and and win this. I I think we can go out and we’re going to give it everything we have, but you know, ultimately the the accolades and the downfall is going to fall on the captain. That’s that’s how it always is. And when you accept the role, you are aware that that’s a very real possibility. And you and the the the highlights of it are at the highest level of our sport and the lows are some of the lowest. And you know, I you know that when you take the job and you know, for me, if your team doesn’t perform, you look at you got to look at the leader first. You got to look at the coach. And um you know, we’re going to go out tomorrow. We’re going to play with just the way they played today. They they’re going to go out there. They’re going to play as hard as they can. They’re going to go out there and try to win every point. They’re going to try to they’re going to support their teammates. And that’s what makes this group so great is they’re that they’re there for each other. Finish up right here with Adam. After after the morning session didn’t go as planned, did you make adjustments to the afternoon? Yeah, we did. was uh did you always envision not having Ben in the lineup? No, we didn’t. Um you know, we were trying to send out, you know, that that it was tough. I I you know, you the hardest part about this captaincy is having to sit the guys. It’s because everybody’s so good. I mean, you you you look at the pairings and you got to look at the data and you got to look at, all right, we got to send out, you know, a powerful group, send a message. Um, and that’s what we did. It’s easy to sit back now and kind of second guess everything and um, you know, but uh, you know, I know Ben Griffin’s going to go out tomorrow. I hope he’s pissed off. He should be. I I would be pissed. I sat a whole day Saturday in Glenn Eagles. It was the one of the lowest moments of my career. And uh along with Phil we sat um and I I hope he comes out tomorrow ready to prove me wrong and ready to go out and win his point. Along those lines, there’s a chance you might have to sit someone put, you know, take the name from the envelope because Victor’s hurt. Have you talked to that player already? No, I we need to go out there and play this tournament the way it was supposed to be played. Um that that’s I I have to go figure this out now. I’m still learning what’s going on. Um I don’t know how that’s going to end up. We we’ll see in a few minutes. Thanks for your time. Thank you.