Bradley and Donald expecting the New York crowd to live up to expectation – Irish Golfer Magazine

Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald are expecting the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York to live up to all the hype and for the home fans to do what they do best when the United States welcomes Europe to Long Island.

The opposing Ryder Cup captains were in Long Island in New York for a press event with less than a year to go before their respective sides lock horns.

But according to Bradley, that’s providing that the American side lives up to their end of the bargain and give the fans something to cheer about.

“It’s definitely going to be an intense environment for both teams,” he said. “New York is an incredible place to play but they expect you to win and win your matches, win your game, win your whatever. We know we have to go out there and perform for the fans to be behind us.

“But we’re looking forward to the challenge is of what it is to play a Ryder Cup at Bethpage, the fun it’s going to be, the loud cheers, the excitement.

“I definitely think the Ryder Cup, in particular, accentuates a certain type of player and especially at Bethpage, you have to be ready for that intense atmosphere.”

The last Ryder Cup to be held in the United States was at Wisconsin’s Whistling Straits in 2021, and due to travel restrictions in place, the European supporters in attendance were few and far between.

The away side will have considerably more support at Bethpage, but will still be drastically outnumbered. But to Luke Donald, that’s part of the magic of the Ryder Cup and he knows that the shoe was on the other foot in 2023 at Marco Simone.

“As I said before, the advantage we had in Rome and being at home, you feel that energy from the
crowd and you can feed off it, obviously when we come to New York, it’s going to be very pro American,” he said.

“The good thing about New York is that it is a melting pot. There’s lots of different cultures here. I see it as a semblance of what our team represent, as well. So there will be some support, which we didn’t have in Whistling Straits, which was a really tough atmosphere. You know, it is going to be likely pro-American, and we’ll expect that and be prepared for that.

“But the Ryder Cup is special because of that. It’s an amazing event, two rivals going head-to-head. You know, battling it out, and you want it to feel that way. You want it to be energetic. You want it to have a lot of energy, and certainly no better place in the world than New York to kind of bring that energy.”

Despite New Yorkers having a reputation for going above and beyond what is generally accepted as support and verging on abuse, Keegan Bradley expects them to remain respectful, and says that playing in an arena where the crowd are strongly favouring the opposition is just part of being a sportsperson.

“Well, you know, we know you go over to an away Ryder Cup, it’s going to be difficult. This is a big event. We’re all grownups and we know how tough it is to go play an outside — an away Ryder Cup,” he said.

“You know, I have total faith in the fans of New York to cheer on their team, proudly and loudly. I don’t want them to cross the line, to do anything that would affect the course of play. But it’s going to be a tough atmosphere.

“It’s going to be tough for both teams. You know, I think Luke would say, you’ve sort of got to be ready for it. When we come play Bethpage in a major championship, you’re ready for this is going to be an atmosphere that we are not normally used to. But I love the New York fans.

“I’m excited that they are on our side, and I have total faith in them. The PGA of America already has precautions in place if people cross the line.”

Donald knows that recent history has favoured the home side with Medinah being the obvious outlier, and he is very much expecting Europe to be the underdogs.

“When you’re playing an away Ryder Cup, I think you have to be the underdog,” he explained. “Just looking historically, Whistling Straits, the result there was very one-sided. Hazeltine was pretty one-sided; Valhalla.

“You know, we were fortunate to come back at Medinah. But the last few times we’ve played away, the results have been one-sided towards the is.

“Yes, in a tough environment, we will be the underdogs.”