Bethpage Black is renowned as one of the most challenging golf courses in the world.
Its narrow fairways and gigantic bunkers demand accuracy off the tee, but most tee shots are blind, going uphill or downhill. Knowledge of the course is paramount to avoiding disaster off the tee.
That would suggest that long-hitters would be disadvantaged by the course. It bears similarities to Oakmont, where JJ Spaun won the U.S. Open earlier this year. That course rewards accuracy and consistency off the tee.
But Bethpage Black can play over 7,400 yards. Players are forced into swinging hard in the hopes of hitting the fairway. If not, their ability to play out of bunkers or long rough will define their weekend.
That could be different this year, however. Rory McIlroy said that there’s been a change to the course that will make it far easier for him to let loose off the tee.
Rory McIlroy says the rough is ‘not a penalty’ at the 2025 Ryder Cup
Team Europe played practice rounds at Bethpage Black two weeks prior to the Ryder Cup, and they returned to the course in the week’s build-up to re-familiarise themselves.
During his pre-tournament practice round, McIlroy discovered that Keegan Bradley and Team USA had done something to the course that had never been done. He mentioned the change to the Golf Channel’s Johnson Wagner.
Wagner revealed what McIlroy said to him coming off the 15th green. He said, “When Rory was walking off the green, he said to me, ‘The course setup is built for hitting the ball as far as you can, and the rough is not a penalty.’
“All of us that know Bethpage as well as we do know how penalising this rough is. I have never seen this golf course look like this. Talking to a bunch of locals who’ve been around here, they’ve never seen it either. The rough is way lower than normal play.”
The Americans have a host of hard-hitters, such as Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Young, who they look to get the best out of with shorter rough. But that change will also suit McIlroy, who is also one of the longest drivers in the game.
These teams are so similar in their skill sets and abilities that any advantage Bradley is attempting to find will be fractional, at best.
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood show promising signs during Ryder Cup practice round
The New York crowd at Bethpage Black is expected to be raucous. McIlroy already received chants of “USA” during his practice round after hitting a chip over the green.
Dealing with that environment will be the biggest challenge of the weekend for Team Europe. That’s why captain Luke Donald gave his team VR headsets to prepare for the heckles on the first tee.
Nothing can truly prepare a player for the Ryder Cup environment, but having a deep understanding of the golf course can remove the thought from some shots, allowing a player to block out the noise and act on muscle memory.
Europe need their players to be comfortable at Bethpage, which is why what Wagner saw out of Tommy Fleetwood and McIlroy on the 15th hole of their practice rounds is a promising sign for Donald’s side.
He said, “I saw Tommy Fleetwood hit it out of that left rough with a beautiful shot. His ball was sitting up. I saw Rory McIlroy hit a 350-yard drive, and hit a flick wedge from 105 front edge hole high to a back pin.”
As McIlroy said in 2023, winning an away Ryder Cup is one of the most difficult things in golf. With that said, they need to carry all the confidence they can onto the first tee on Friday.
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