The Bethpage crowd turned up the volume. Europe turned up the golf. Rhys and Alex revisit Saturday’s matches, the hostile atmosphere, the arguments over where crowd behaviour crossed the line, and how Europe built a commanding lead heading into Sunday.

In Part 2 of our 2025 Ryder Cup Revisited series, Rhys Prytherch and Alex York revisit Friday afternoon at Bethpage Black — the point where the story stops being mainly about atmosphere and starts becoming a proper captain v captain debate.

Using the four Friday afternoon matches as evidence, they look at what Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley were actually responsible for: pairing logic, preparation, role clarity, in-session adaptation, and the point where captaincy ends and players still have to hit the shots.

Serious golf, unserious tone.

Bethpage Black was supposed to give Team USA the perfect start. Instead, Europe repeatedly stopped American momentum from becoming American control and finished Friday morning 3–1 ahead.

Rhys and Alex revisit the opening foursomes: Bryson’s first-tee fireworks, Rahm and Hatton’s relentless escapes, Åberg and Fitzpatrick’s demolition of Scheffler and Henley, McIlroy and Fleetwood’s clinical partnership, and the final match that saved America from a clean sweep.

Part 1 of our four-part series revisiting the 2025 Ryder Cup.