For some time, there has been a persistent Ryder Cup narrative that Team USA is a collection of 12 individuals while Europe is a cohesive unit. It’s this camaraderie and togetherness that allows the Europeans to often outperform expectations even if they might appear to be the weaker side on paper.
“To a European player, the Ryder Cup is about history,” Justin Rose said after Europe’s dominant win over the Americans at Marco Simone two years ago. “More specifically, it’s about your chance to add to that history. It’s about playing a small role in a collective story that has been going on for decades. The entire privilege of the week is having the chance to help write the next chapter.”
Added Jon Rahm: “It’s the ability to walk through those gates and those doors and forget about who you are outside of this week. What you have done or what you may do afterwards, really truly doesn’t matter.”
“We’re caretakers of this European jersey right now,” Rory McIlroy chimed in that day. “And we’re hopefully going to pass it on in the future in a better spot than where we found it.”
The Americans have seemingly spent years chasing the formula to become a team, that special sauce that will allow them to rise to the occasion on the road while maintaining dominance at home. Europe has won eight of the last 11 Ryder Cups and has won three on American soil since the last time the U.S. went across the pond and won.
Of course, Europe’s Ryder Cup success isn’t just about singing songs, enjoying being around each other and having an appreciation for their place in history. The European team has a meticulous plan that makes it feel prepared for anything in the biennial event and provides players with the confidence needed to handle any situation that arises.
Regardless, the Americans have been chasing an identity for quite some time — looking for a way to engineer the formula they believe they’ve been missing.
While captain Keegan Bradley believes the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team is the “closest” he has ever seen, Rose sees the United States’ fixation on chemistry as something they are attacking in the wrong way.
“I think the U.S. team have definitely bonded a lot more in recent years, and I think that they do have pockets of good friendships,” Rose said during a Q&A session ahead of the Justin Rose Ladies Open earlier this month, via Sky Sports. “But I think the Americans have gotten a little bit … they think being a great team is about being best mates. I really don’t think that’s what being a great team is. Being a great team is having a kind of a real good theme and having an identity that has come from players before you, and you all buy into that vision.
“You don’t have to be having the greatest time in the world to do that. Although, inevitably, we do have a great time doing that. I think America have tried too hard to become a team, whereas Europe is a bit more natural and organic, and I think it comes from deeper roots in a way.”
It was an outside-the-box decision to make Bradley captain for the showdown at Bethpage Black. While it led to some avoidable tension as Bradley played his way into the conversation to make his own team, Bradley’s captaincy has been well-received by players, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. To Scheffler, having a captain who is still one of the best players in the world has created a different vibe as the team came together.
“The intensity that he’s brought as a captain — I mean, he has definitely exceeded my expectations as far as a captain. He’s done a great job,” Scheffler said at the BMW Championship. “He’s passionate about the Ryder Cup. He cares a lot about us as players. It’s been a lot of fun kind of watching him develop in this role, and we’re excited to get the Ryder Cup started.
“He leaves some messages in our locker every now and then, a lot of text messages,” Scheffler said when asked how Bradley has raised the bar as a captain. “I just feel like, since Keegan is out here a lot versus some of the other captains we’ve had in the past — not that they’ve done a bad job. It’s different having him here week in and week out. He’s a guy that we know well. I loved all of our previous captains, but I think it’s just different when we’re showing up, like hey, you want to play a practice round this week? We see him in dining. He’s just around a lot more, so I think there’s more opportunities for him to be kind of a part of our lives out here. I think that’s really important as he steps into that captain role, knowing the players as well as he does.”
In the end, Bradley elected not to pick himself to be on the team. He wanted to put all his focus into winning as a captain and made the selfless decision to pass on his dream of returning to the Ryder Cup as a player to do what he believes is best for the team.
Europe, meanwhile, will return 11 of the 12 players from its winning team in Rome, with Rasmus Hojggard replacing his brother Nicolai. That 2023 Ryder Cup ended with McIlroy promising that Europe would win this year at Bethpage Black.
That’s a comment Bradley has made sure his team has heard. But with the Ryder Cup a week away, it’s time for Team USA to focus on Team USA and see if the soul-searching paid off in the two years since they were steamrolled in Italy.
“I don’t care what Europe is doing, I only care about our 12 guys, our caddies, the wives. I only care about what we’re doing,” Bradley said last week at the Procore Championship. “They’re a confident group, they should be. They won the last Ryder Cup, their team is solid. Luke Donald is maybe the best captain ever, somebody that I’ve always looked up to. So they should be confident but I’m not really — I really don’t care what they say about us, I only care about our team.”
