How did Europe achieve an amazing Ryder Cup victory?

Europe won the Ryder Cup again. Despite the passionate accusations of Team USA in Sunday’s singles, Luke Donald’s team did enough on the final day to win a 15-13 title and bring the cup back to the pond. This is the sixth Euro win in eight Ryder Cups and the ninth since 2000. What’s wrong with Americans? Golf’s writers and editors explain it all below.

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The Europeans’ match against the Americans in the 2025 Ryder Cup became the first road team to win in a decade. Europe had a big lead after the first two days of Americans dominating Sunday singles and narrowed the gap to twice later the next day, eventually falling 15-13. The players said it before winning the Ryder Cup, but Europe did this weekend. How did Europe achieve it?

Zephyr Melton, Assistant Game Improvement Editor (@zephyrmelton): They executed the perfect plan Friday and then eliminated the Americans on Saturday. (This helps when you look like you can see each putt.) The euro retreats to the average in the final meeting, but by then they accumulate enough mats to keep the win.

Jack Hirsh, Associate Device Editor (@jr_hirshey): They embrace and enjoy the game as a team, which is not easy to do on the golf course. It is obvious that Europe consistently plays larger than the sum of every Ryder Cup. The United States has been looking for answers on how to succeed in the Ryder Cup (Europe has won all the cups outside of this century), and it is actually staring at them.

Senior writer Josh Sens (@Joshsens): Agree, Jack. But I also think this is a deeply rooted cultural thing and it is difficult to change. This week is like a metaphor for both characters: Europeans are in trouble in partnership. When Americans act alone, Americans form forms.

Europe only needs two points to keep the Cup to start on Sunday, although the Americans didn’t give up easily, putting the first three on the board and leading the way with the majority. How surprised were you on Sunday’s efforts? What was the urgency of the previous two days?

Melton: You have to give Americans the credibility they struggled on Sunday to make it much closer than most people think. With a more talented team (at least on paper), the singles format will always be good for them and once they get some momentum, they do roll throughout the afternoon.

Hesh: I agree with Zephyr that the US struggle in the Ryder Cup is really confusing because they usually have talent advantages. Of course, Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy aren’t the best Sunday, and frankly, when you win the first three games like they did and win 18 games dramatically at the age of 18, that creates a cascading momentum effect. No Friday and Saturday.

Sens: I don’t think there was a lack of urgency for Americans the previous two days. If anything, I suspect they want it so much that they may have been pressing. It’s not shocking that their comeback is partly because the format is more suitable for them, but I’ll bet, but they play like nothing to lose.

It was crushed in Rome two years ago after winning in 2021 at the Whistle Channel. Now, they are in the wrong side of the scoreboard for two consecutive years. What hasn’t changed in the past two years?

Melton: For all the effects of Keegan Bradley as the captain breaking the mold, he seems to have made the same tactical mistakes that his ex encountered. The decision to launch the Morikawa-English Foursomes team twice will be reviewed for a while, while Cameron Young was sitting for a long time at the first session. Although the euro dials and sticks with it, the Americans always seem to make the gut call and come back. This year is no different.

Hesh: Did I think Keegan Bradley should break up with the Boys Club? Collin Morikawa despite having a bad season, this fact is evidence to the contrary. It seems Bradley is trying to make everyone happy, rather than do what he thinks is right. The United States needs to blow up the entire Ryder Cup process and start from scratch. They should do it quietly. There is no task force, no grand event and situation for the captain. Just learn from what Europeans do well and apply it.

Sens: Whenever the Americans lose, fans, players and experts on this side of the Atlantic spend a lot of time painfully asking what went wrong, as if there must be some hidden explanations, or some problems that some task force can solve. In this case, I think one of the explanations is that the Europeans have better teams. I’m not talking about world rankings or any other metric of power. I’m talking about a mix of Ryder Cup veterans and young talent, most of them are doing well, all absolutely craving for the event. At the same time, several top Americans appeared in the event. I think that there must be other reasons, reflecting a particular American arrogance, as if we can’t accept another team being stronger.

What was Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley’s best (and worst) captain decision this week?

Melton: The aforementioned Morikava-English pairing is Bradley’s biggest head gripper. Running it the next day is marginal malfeasance. I think the euro has played as much as possible.

Hesh: Yes, what I think of late is the mistakes in Ryder Cup history are more than the counterattack against Morikawa-English, the same euro team. Just like Bradley won two wins at Fleetwoodmac because they were so good. I don’t understand why Ben Griffin only played two games and gave that guy a chance and you did choose him to play.

I think of Luke Donald making a bad decision this week. He has been in class since he was appointed captain and the euro will be the wise choice. Can you believe he shouldn’t even be the captain in 2023?

Sens: Morikawa-English repeat is definitely a catch. But the course setting seems to be a factor too. Traditional wisdom seems to be that Americans are the bigger hitters who benefit from bombs and gunners. But, as Edoardo Molinari of the European Brain trainraust said before the event, he felt like a relatively easy device in the hands of Europeans. I think this is saying that the Europeans dominate the six holes in the opening game, which is the easiest part of the course. Americans will perform better when holes get tougher. In the future, maybe they will set up harder tests better.

Who or what is the biggest surprise of each team this week?

Melton: Scottie was sure to be there for the Americans 1-4-0. For the euro, I will go with Viktor Hovland’s health.

Hesh: How about Cam Young? Maybe “surprise” is the wrong word, but it’s as much as his win last month. Hopefully this is the beginning of the tears we all see from him after his rookie season. You can also put Bryson DeChambeau’s 1.5-point fool here.

I’m here with Zephyr and learn that Viktor has been dealing with the tough news about his neck problem.

Sens: I can’t top. But it may be worth mentioning that JJ Spaun is in the United States. It’s not shocking that he’s doing so well. But, he looked very comfortable due to his first time in the Ryder Cup. On the other hand, I would say that Jon Rahm was relatively flat in the last two games because he had been deadly.

Bethpage Black is known for its incredible difficulty, but Team USA moved the T-shirt upwards and cut it off to make it a Birds Festival in three days. What do you think of the movie from a strategic perspective and in the TV viewing experience?

Melton: IMO sterilized black for bland viewing experience. Golf balls get stuck where they land and are rarely punished. I’ve taken dozens of courses and have never seen it so benign. This event took a lot of interest.

Hesh: Too scary. Why go to the infamous golf course (one of the hardest golf courses in the world) just to make it easy? I would have wanted to watch a Ryder Cup where there might be some loopholes. What does this matter? Yes, fans love birdies, but they also love watching players grinding. Do people don’t like to see the United States open?

Sens: agree. The obsession with birds ignores the fact that par is irrelevant. For the sake of cripes, this is the match game. In the heat of the Ryder Cup, excitement does not stem from birdies. It comes from one less than the opponent. In this regard, the setting was disappointing. That is, soft conditions exacerbate the problem, which is not something anyone can control.

Should the envelope rule be left behind? Or does it need to be changed?

Melton: Perhaps every team should have a live replacement in case of injury. This seems to be the most logical solution.

Hesh: I don’t hate that idea, but I don’t actually hate the envelope rules either. I don’t think it’s necessary to be punished for injury, especially for events that are considered “exhibitions”. It was a nice compromise and it ended in the week. Actually, I think this might benefit Americans.

Sens: I can accept either of these two suggestions. Or, each team sent a captain or assistant captain to fill the slot.