With the result in the books, there is arguably little question that Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley will be remembered as the two main protagonists from the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Rory McIlroy has now won two Ryder Cups on away soil after Europe just about held on in New York. McIlroy looked like he had nothing left in the tank as he was beaten by Scottie Scheffler in the Sunday singles.
It had been an emotionally draining week for McIlroy. The Northern Irishman – who played in all five sessions – seemed to receive more abuse by sections of the crowd than anyone else at Bethpage. McIlroy could not help himself from retaliating at times.
Elsewhere, Keegan Bradley‘s dream of leading Team USA to Ryder Cup glory was dashed. His side left themselves with just too much to do on Sunday.
Rory McIlroy lauded for what he did as Europe celebrated their Ryder Cup triumph
The home team can be enormously proud of the fight that they showed in their quest for what would have arguably been the greatest sporting comeback of all-time. Ultimately, they came up agonisingly short.
What this past week reminded everyone is how the Ryder Cup also impacts the families of the players involved.
McIlroy knows that better than anyone, so it should have come as no surprise when a picture emerged from Fried Egg Golf showing the five-time major champion consoling Bradley’s children as his teammates celebrated.
One person on social media noted: ‘I was there for this, he told the kids to go back to their dad and say “I’m proud of you”, class personified after everything he went through out there.‘
Another said: ‘That’s awesome‘, while someone else described the gesture as ‘beautiful‘. It was also labelled ‘pure class‘.
McIlroy has come in for plenty of criticism this year. His demeanour since winning The Masters understandably disappointed a lot of fans of the sport.
But this has helped win some back around, it seems. One person posted: ‘don’t make me like him‘. Another said: ‘A ton more respect for Rory!‘ Someone else wrote: ‘You can’t hate Rory‘.
And finally, some felt it was a reminder of just how far across the line some of those outside the ropes went at Bethpage, with one person saying: ‘Class. Unlike the fans there. I’m embarrassed for our country. Be better.’
How Rory McIlroy reacted when Keegan Bradley was announced as Ryder Cup captain
There are going to be plenty of deep dives into what Bradley did well and what he got wrong as captain over the next few weeks. He will be coming to terms with the fact that he has now been involved with the only two home teams to lose the Ryder Cup over the last two decades.
McIlroy and Bradley faced off in the Sunday singles at Medinah in 2012, with the European taking the match after barely making it to the tee on time. They are also TGL teammates.
It is interesting to look back on McIlroy’s comments when Bradley was appointed. Clearly, he had little idea of whether it was going to prove to be an inspired move or not.
“Definitely a surprise, I think for everyone. We had dinner in London on Sunday night with Luke and he told us then. Yeah, it’s an interesting appointment, the youngest captain since Arnold Palmer I think was a playing captain at 34, but he knows Bethpage very well, he went to university in the area, he’s obviously very passionate about the Ryder Cup. It’s certainly a departure from what the US have done over the last few years, and time will tell if that’s a good thing or not,” he said.
“Disbelief probably. I think Keegan was in disbelief too, but certainly an interesting pick.”
Bradley was agonisingly close to overseeing a monumental comeback on Sunday after a calamitous couple of days. So it will be fascinating to see how his tenure is viewed in the years to come.
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