Justin Thomas is recovering from back surgery he underwent last month. But a tournament from September is still stuck in Thomas’ craw: the disastrous 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Thomas might not be able to play golf right now, but he can still talk. And in an appearance on the No Laying Up podcast, the two-time major champion opined about the U.S.’s devastating loss at the Ryder Cup.
And in the most interesting moment, Thomas confirmed a suspicion about a contributing factor in the Americans’ lopsided defeat: that the greens were far slower than captain Keegan Bradley wanted them to be. But he went even further, revealing that the U.S. team “fought with” tournament organizers to make the greens faster.
UPDATE: In response to reports, including an earlier version of this story, that Thomas had blamed the Bethpage grounds grew and not the course setup team for the green speeds, Thomas posted on Instagram Tuesday: “I never once blamed the bethpage staff, they did an amazing job, and did exactly what they were told. I mentioned frustration with whomever Keegan and people spoke too, which (to my knowledge) is not the superintendent and greens crew more so the pga and whoever sets up the course. Again to my knowledge don’t think communication is really annoyed between super and captain, for obvious shady reasons. I could be very wrong though… We got our asses kicked theres no doubt about that regardless of the course we played!“
Slow Bethpage greens factor into U.S. Ryder Cup loss
Among the many variables that went into the European Ryder Cup team’s total dominance on Friday and Saturday at Bethpage Black was the course setup.
First, Bethpage Black’s notorious rough was cut short, shocking many people on the grounds that week. The rough was Captain Bradley’s choice. He and his team determined shorter rough would benefit the long-hitting American team.
The opposite turned out to be true, and in the aftermath Bradley admitted it was a mistake.
The green speeds at Bethpage Black that week are another story. Bradley and the U.S. team wanted the greens to be PGA Tour-level fast, which would have given the experienced Americans a distinct putting advantage.
But when play began on Friday at Bethpage, Bradley and everyone else realized the greens were nowhere near as fast as they wanted them to be.
The U.S. captain revealed as much Saturday night of Ryder Cup week after the Europeans trounced the U.S. team for a second-straight day.
“I’ve never seen Bethpage greens play this soft ever,” Bradley said that night. “Even when we’ve played here and it’s rained, this is something that I’ve never seen. Chip shots are spinning backwards.”
On Sunday, the greens were finally running quickly, and the U.S. team flipped the script, dominating play and nearly coming all the way back to win.
Thanks to Thomas’ appearance on No Laying Up, we now have insight into what exactly was going on with the putting surfaces during the Ryder Cup.
Thomas: U.S. Ryder Cup team feuded with Bethpage staff over green speeds
About an hour into his interview with No Laying Up, Thomas was asked about the slow-green controversy at the Ryder Cup, and he didn’t hold back.
The 16-time PGA Tour winner first expressed his confusion and frustration with the situation.
“I don’t really understand that. I don’t know why [the greens] weren’t at all what Keegan [Bradley] had asked for. I mean, he had been pretty clear of asking for a certain speed and wanting them fast enough,” Thomas began.
According to Thomas’ comments, the issue wasn’t that tournament organizers were unable to speed up the greens, but that they were in denial that the greens were playing slow.
That led to backroom squabbling as the U.S. team begged them to speed up the putting surfaces.
“I watched them argue with us that they were 13s [on the Stimpmeter]. It’s like, ‘Guys, we play golf every week, like, look on TV at how many guys are leaving putts short. Nobody is getting … You can’t have a putt, roll, three feet, four feet past the hole. Like these greens are slow, speed them up.”
He continued by explaining the real impact of the dust-up over the greens: it turned a distinct advantage for the home team into a disadvantage.
“It was just bizarre because that’s not something you would expect at a home Ryder Cup. And again, that’s not an excuse, [the European players] had to adjust to them just as much as we did. That’s kind of a fun advantage you generally have [as a home Ryder Cup team] is being able to do that a little bit, and it was just so frustrating that we were being fought with and argued with on the speed of the greens that we asked for. So that was bizarre,” Thomas told No Laying Up.
Thomas confirmed the greens were faster on Sunday. But that was one day too late. The Americans’ furious charge in Sunday singles couldn’t make up for the first two days, and the Europeans reclaimed the Ryder Cup 15-13.
You can watch Thomas’ full appearance on the No Laying Up podcast here.
