There were so many reasons behind Team USA’s downfall at the 2025 Ryder Cup that it’s tough to rank exactly which was the most catastrophic.
The poor behavior of certain fans and a string of underwhelming performances from some of the world’s top-10 undoubtedly played their part in capping the US’ potential, but the role Keegan Bradley played in this defeat cannot be ignored.
I’m hesitant to place all of the blame at the door of the US captain as, like I said, there were so many contributing factors. Big players did not step up in big moments and the lack of natural cohesion between teammates was painfully evident at times.
Nevertheless, many of those problems could have been ironed out with more efficient leadership from Bradley.
While he probably picked the right 12 players in the first place and sent out the majority of the obvious two-man teams, the decision to pair Collin Morikawa and Harris English together not once but twice throughout the week was simply unbelievable.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The two American stars were, statistically, the least compatible duo on the US side – something they proved through a 5&4 hammering by Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in the Friday foursomes.
And when Morikawa and English asked for another chance to prove their worth on Saturday, Bradley naively listened instead of putting his foot down and subbing in a capable replacement.
The call proved costly as, once again, Morikawa and English lost to McIlroy and Fleetwood – but this time, it was 3&2 as the American duo delayed the inevitable by winning two of their final three in the match. That proved to be just the third and fourth hole-successes out of 30 across the two days.
From a wider perspective, even the most suitable pairings were struggling to find a way past those in blue, in part due to the course set-up. The fairway rough was shaved down which made missing the cut strip little to no penalty whatsoever, and the Europeans’ marginal lack of length off the tee compared to their hosts was not punished due to the softness of the greens.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Speaking afterwards, Bradley admitted himself that he “definitely made a mistake on the course setup” and should have listened to his intuition when handing out the specifications.
He said: “We…
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