With Keegan Bradley opting not to pick himself for the 2025 Ryder Cup, there remains a very good chance that the singles clash which confirmed Europe’s victory 11 years earlier will prove to be his final match in the event.
Team USA have suffered heavier defeats in the Ryder Cup. However, their 2014 loss at Gleneagles looked set to become something of a blueprint for what they would not do in future.
What was strange was that USA had lost the previous two events by just one point – having completely outplayed Europe over the first two days at Medinah. They had also found a winning formula under Paul Azinger in 2008.
Nevertheless, they decided to throw much of that good work out of the window and turn to Tom Watson to lead the team in Scotland.
What Tom Watson told Keegan Bradley after he lost his singles match at the 2014 Ryder Cup
While Watson is unquestionably one of the greatest to have ever played the game, the move was certainly a bizarre one. He was 65 years of age, and Jordan Spieth was barely a couple of months old the previous time Watson had captained the Ryder Cup team in 1993.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the decision backfired.
Remarkably, USA won both fourball sessions that week. However, after losing the foursomes 7-1, they found themselves 10-6 behind going into Sunday.
Watson had also not endeared himself to his players with some of his actions. According to ESPN at the time, the eight-time major champion reacted to being gifted a signed replica of the Ryder Cup by his players on Saturday evening by telling them it would mean nothing to him if he was not holding the real trophy the following day.
Watson caused some controversy by leaving Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley out of both sessions on Saturday. The pair had actually beaten Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia on Friday morning.
They had also been sensational in Medinah two years earlier. Davis Love III’s decision to rest the pair on Saturday evening is looked back upon as one of the crucial moments of the week.
There was to be no turnaround in 2014, however, with Jamie Donaldson securing the crucial point for Europe in a 5&3 win over Bradley.
Incredibly, rather than console Bradley, Watson was reportedly brutal in his assessment – as Bob Harig noted for ESPN.
“According to three witnesses, Watson greeted several of the singles losers Sunday, including Bradley, by telling them they should have played better,” he wrote.
Europe would end up winning 16.5-11.5 to retain the trophy. Mickelson would famously go on to criticise Watson’s captaincy in the press conference after the closing ceremony.
Keegan Bradley may now be grateful for what happened at Gleneagles as he sets his sights on victory at Bethpage
The PGA of America obviously felt that turning back to Watson was the way to go after several disappointing trips across the pond. The 1993 Ryder Cup remains the most recent away victory Team USA has had.
But Watson seemingly suffered from not being around the team on a regular basis in the months leading into Gleneagles. And it does appear that he did not do a lot to endear himself to his players with some of his comments and his decisions.
Obviously, there are two sides to every story. But given how close they were, you would not be surprised if Bradley had a similar view on the week to Mickelson.
With that, the 2014 Ryder Cup may be the most important event in shaping Bradley’s own captaincy at Bethpage, with Watson unable to stem the tide once the momentum started to move in Europe’s favour.
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