LIV Golfers could’ve helped Team USA’s Ryder Cup chances

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – After Europe’s Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage Black, the United States team’s piteous performance over the first two days of the competition should be the death of their outdated Ryder Cup playbook. This was more than a loss. It was a wake-up call, confirmation that the Americans’ recent approach to the Ryder Cup has been an utter failure. To learn from their mistakes, the 2025 Ryder Cup should serve as a eulogy.

Yes, the United States battled back on Sunday, but Singles matches don’t require strategy or difficult decision-making of which players should be sidelined and who should play with whom. The American pairings that were sent out in Foursomes and Fourballs in the first two days of the Ryder Cup were only able to muster a measly 4.5 points compared to Europe’s 11.5. The fact that Europe was able to celebrate the Cup despite winning just one Singles match is testimony to their historic dominance in the first two days.

For years, it was widely predicted that Phil Mickelson would serve as the U.S. captain at Bethpage Black. After the six-time major winner signed with LIV Golf, those plans were thwarted. A suspension from the PGA Tour was to be expected, but the PGA Tour is not the PGA of America.

Instead, 39-year-old Keegan Bradley was given the task, becoming the youngest Ryder Cup captain in 62 years – a decision born from a Netflix series called “Full Swing” where an emotional Bradley broke down in tears over not being selected to play in the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.

The knee-jerk reaction to a Netflix show didn’t consider the fact that Bradley, still in the back end of his golf prime, could play well enough to make the team as a player, which he did. If Mickelson had been the captain in 2025, it’s highly likely he’d have chosen Bradley, whom he has a longstanding friendship with, as a player. Instead, by being named captain, Bradly was put in a lose-lose situation, opting to remain sidelined instead of naming himself ahead of another American player.

Bradley’s captaincy was made, in part, to break the status quo. The passionate New Englander wasn’t part of the “old guard,” he was young and in-tune with modern analytics that have made Europe so successful in recent years.

Except, he wasn’t. He was Zach Johnson without the green jacket.

DataGolf had the pairing of Collin Morikawa and Harris English ranked 132nd of 132 possible Ryder Cup team combinations, yet Bradley paired them together in the opening Foursomes session. Predictably, the mismatched duo got steamrolled, 5 & 4 to Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. Rather than owning the mistake, Bradley doubled down, putting them back out in Saturday Foursomes for a rematch against McIlroy and Fleetwood. They lost once again, 3 & 2.

When asked why he decided to play Morikawa and English again on Saturday despite their poor performance, Bradley said “They were really bummed out that they lost their match [Friday]. They were eager to get back out on the course, and that’s why we did that.”

Analytics, in other words, were a non-factor.

Another crucial error Bradley made was in the course setup. The rough was cut down, making tee to green play much easier than you’d expect at Bethpage Black. That decision turned the Ryder Cup into a putting contest against a team that was much better on the greens. From tee to green, the United States matched Europe, but Europe outperformed the United States by more than 12 strokes on the greens during the decisive first two days.

On Sunday, Bradley admitted to his error. “I definitely made a mistake on the course setup,” he said. “I should have listened a little bit more to my intuition. For whatever reason, that wasn't the right way to set the course up.”

For years, the United States have treated the Ryder Cup as if it were an all-star game, choosing players who “deserved” to be on the team rather than the players who suit the golf course. In his introductory press conference in 2024, Bradley said, "I’m going to have the 12 best players on the team. I don’t care where they play. We have a mission to win this tournament. I’m not worried about the LIV stuff."

Their mission failed.

When Bradley was chosen, Ryder Cup winning experience was overlooked. The problem was exacerbated with Bradley’s vice captains selections. On the United States side, the captain and vice captains – Bradley, Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner and Gary Woodland – have a combined for 25 Ryder Cup appearances between them with only three wins. Europe’s captains and vice captains have combined for 41 Ryder Cup appearances and 35 wins.

Mickelson, who had a much stronger case of being the United States captain, didn’t have a stellar Ryder Cup record, but had much more experience with 12 appearances and three wins, accumulating 21.5 total points. (By the way, Tiger Woods has just one win in eight appearances with 14.5 points.) And now Mickelson is no longer an option, as he announced on social media Sunday that he’s not interested in future Ryder Cup involvement.

Bradley’s captain’s picks, including rookies Ben Griffin (ranked 22nd of 24 players in Strokes Gained: Total) and Sam Burns (ranked 23rd of 24 players in Strokes Gained: Total) as well as Collin Morikawa, a struggling veteran, were underwhelming while LIV Golf players Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka were left on the sidelines. Those three players combined have appeared in a combined 12 Ryder Cups with seven wins, more than double all the United States captain and vice captains combined.

Winning experience matters. As evidenced by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s struggles in the Ryder Cup, team match play is completely different than traditional stroke play. The players with winning experience in the Ryder Cup play on LIV Golf.

Reed is one of the grittiest Ryder Cup players of his generation. His 7-3-2 record across three Ryder Cups, including a perfect 3-0-0 in singles, is evidence that he’s built for match play. At Hazeltine in 2016, he outdueled Rory McIlroy in a Sunday showdown that still echoes in golf lore. This week, there was no one to stop McIlroy. He went unchallenged.

“It’s always on your mind. Anytime I get to represent our country, it means a lot to me. For me personally, I’m always thinking about trying to make every team,” Reed said prior to winning LIV Golf Dallas this year.

He also had experience at Bethpage Black, winning the 2016 Barclays. Perhaps, most importantly, Reed holes putts, which no player on the United States team seemed to be able to do in their drubbing to Europe.

How about a five-time major champion?

Brooks Koepka admitted he didn’t do enough to make the team, but Bradley should have taken him anyway if the goal is to win the Ryder Cup. Koepka is a presence and a player that strikes fear into his opponents in match play. He also won the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black.

Who did Koepka beat in that 2019 PGA? Dustin Johnson.

Johnson came on at the end of the season, but that isn’t why he needed to be picked. He was the United States’ best player at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, the last time they played at home. He went 5-0 in that Ryder Cup and is 10-2 all-time in home Ryder Cups. His perfect week at Whistling Straits was just the 5th time in Ryder Cup history that a player has gone 5-0 in a single Ryder Cup.

Captain Luke Donald brought Jon Rahm to play alongside Tyrrell Hatton (who automatically qualified) and the Legion XIII duo went unbeaten, improving their undefeated record to 5-0-1 in six Ryder Cup matches as a team. Like Hatton and Rahm, Johnson and Reed have spent a great deal of time together as teammates while on LIV Golf, four full seasons in fact. It’s worth considering that they could bring their team chemistry to a Ryder Cup the way the Legion XIII duo has.

The United States will now go to Ireland in two years at serious risk of losing three consecutive Ryder Cups. To avoid that, they need to put an end to the status quo.

The best and most accomplished players, captains and vice captains should be taken, regardless of which league they play in.

Bradley was supposed to mark the end of the “boys club” mentality in the American team room. Instead, he was the worst offender of them all.