Not everyone is pleased that Bethpage Black will host the Ryder Cup for the very first time this week, while Rory McIlroy has offered his thoughts on the chances of tempers flaring once again
Kasra Moradi Senior Sports Journalist
13:25, 22 Sep 2025
The Ryder Cup takes place this week at Bethpage Black(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
The 2025 Ryder Cup gets underway this week on American soil. The much-anticipated biennial competition will begin on Friday at Black Course at Bethpage State Park, New York.
Luke Donald’s Team Europe are currently the reigning champions after their stunning 16.5-11.5 victory at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome back in 2023.
Rory McIlroy, the hosts’ top scorer that week with four points from five matches, will hope to inspire Team Europe to a victory on US soil. That will take some doing, however, as Europe have not tasted victory Stateside since 2012.
Keegan Bradley’s Team USA, who boast Scottie Scheffler, are hoping to replicate the stellar performances that saw them win the Ryder Cup by a record-breaking margin in 2021. And as we await the start of the action, we take a look at three of the latest talking points surrounding the Ryder Cup.
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Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are said to have two different approaches to the game(Image: Getty Images)
Despite enjoying the best year of his professional career with a first Masters victory and three further triumphs, McIlroy is still second in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) by a considerable margin. He trails Scottie Scheffler, who has won two major championships this year alone.
And McIlroy’s 2014 Team Europe captain Paul McGinley has given the world No. 2 a stern warning over his bid to take the spot. McGinley gave the nod to McIlroy’s American rival, while expressing fears over whether the career Grand Slam winner will reach the pinnacle again before his retirement.
The 58-year-old Irishman told the BBC: “Rory has always been a volatile performer; his career has never been a straight line, there have been loads of dips and then he comes roaring back.
“Rory is charismatic, dynamic in how he plays, a risk-taker and he draws people in because he plays in the Arnold Palmer style. That guy is more hit and miss than a Scottie Scheffler, who plays the percentages, is very detailed and conservative in his approach.”
McGinley went on to state he fears McIlroy will not climb the mountain again before he retires, saying: “I don’t know if Rory will ever lead the world rankings again because he doesn’t have the consistency Scottie has.”
Bethpage Black venue ‘a mistake’
The Ryder Cup takes place this week (Image: 2022 PGA of America)
Paul Azinger thinks PGA of America has made a grave error in choosing Bethpage Black as the venue for this year’s Ryder Cup. The former Team USA captain is not a fan of the challenging New York venue and thinks Bradley’s men will feel the same when they face Donald’s Team Europe.
Bethpage rarely features on the Tour schedule due to its public course status, and Azinger considers its selection a major miscalculation. The 2008 winning skipper said: “We don’t know the course. Our guys aren’t going to necessarily be rolling in there a month early or two months early because we only have six guys that know they’re on the team.
“I think one of the biggest mistakes that the American Ryder Cup team always seems to make, or the PGA of America, is they go to courses that we’re not familiar with. This course, I couldn’t stand it. I did my two rounds and think I was 18 over [par] for two days there in the US Open. The media loved it because it was a public course.
“I really don’t like Bethpage Black. There’s a lot of awkward angles, downhill tee shots to fairways that angle away, uphill second shots where you can’t see the landing area. It’s just hard and you cannot fluke your way around there.
“I feel like Keegan’s going to have to get these guys on a mission and on a mission quickly. Single-minded to figure out how to fall in love with Bethpage Black. I guarantee you they don’t love it. Europe doesn’t care if it’s what the course is. Our guys might. I feel like they have to be there enough to fall in love with the course. They have to play their way in.”
McIlroy predicts heated moment
Rory McIlroy was involved in a famous incident at the 2023 Ryder Cup with caddie, Joe LaCava(Image: 2023 Getty Images)
McIlroy is expecting animosity from the US crowd when the action gets underway, believing that some kind of confrontation with Team Europe is likely to occur. The Northern Irishman is not afraid of making his feelings known, as shown by his altercation with a fan back in 2016 during his match against Patrick Reed at the same event.
Things got heated in 2023 too when McIlroy took issue with Patrick Cantlay’s caddy, Joe LaCava, for his over-the-top celebrations on the 18th green.
“I think it’s inevitable something is going to happen in New York,” McIlroy told Ewan Murray in an interview with The Guardian. “It might not involve me, but it is inevitable that something will happen, whether like in Rome last time or something else.
“I just think when you go into that environment and you are there for five or six days and the crowd are on you for eight hours, so many days in a row… it is inevitable it will get to someone or get to us as a group at some point. We are just going to have to do a really good job of managing that, having each other’s backs and protecting each other.”
