Keegan Bradley spent the entire week trying to fire up the Bethpage Black crowds, then became defensive when a reporter asked him to address the fan behavior that had resulted.
The moment came during Bradley’s press conference Saturday night, with his team trailing 11.5-4.5 and European captain Luke Donald saying American fans had crossed lines throughout the day. When a reporter asked whether Bradley thought he bore some responsibility for that behavior, given how he and his players had encouraged hostility beforehand, specifically mentioning calls to “bring chaos,” Bradley immediately pushed back.
“What words were those?” Bradley asked.
“I don’t appreciate those words that you just said,” he continued. “I know what you’re trying to do. The Ryder Cup is full of passionate fans. They’re full of passionate players. And that wasn’t right.”
The U.S. team’s strategy all week had been built around creating exactly that kind of hostile environment. Collin Morikawa explicitly told fans he wanted them to bring “absolute chaos” to Bethpage Black. Bradley himself ran down fairways carrying giant American flags during practice rounds. The entire American approach centered on using crowd intimidation as a tactical weapon against the Europeans.
That strategy produced the environment everyone should have expected from a New York crowd given free rein to create chaos. Fans counted out Rory McIlroy’s putting routine, shouted obscenities during players’ backswings, and made personal attacks that required police intervention. McIlroy was caught on a hot mic telling the crowd to “shut the f*ck up” during his backswing. Security details around European players increased throughout Saturday as the situation escalated.
Bradley had acknowledged that some fans crossed lines, saying, “You’re always going to have a few people that cross the line, and that’s unfortunate. I was happy to see our players trying to quiet down some people that were like that.”
But when asked to connect that acknowledgment to his team’s week-long campaign for maximum hostility, Bradley rejected the premise entirely. The captain, who had spent the week asking for chaos, didn’t want to answer for the chaos that resulted.
The strategy hasn’t worked anyway. Europe dominated every session while dealing with behavior that required law enforcement intervention. Europe needs just 2.5 more points to retain the Ryder Cup heading into Sunday’s singles matches.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.