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First shots of Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black are of the verbal variety

AP photo by Matt Slocum / Europe captain Luke Donald speaks Wednesday during the opening ceremony for the 2025 Ryder Cup on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. Three days of competition are set to tee off with a foursomes session Friday morning, but the opening ceremony was moved up a day earlier than scheduled due to rain in the forecast Thursday. AP photo by Matt Slocum / Europe captain Luke Donald speaks Wednesday during the opening ceremony for the 2025 Ryder Cup on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. Three days of competition are set to tee off with a foursomes session Friday morning, but the opening ceremony was moved up a day earlier than scheduled due to rain in the forecast Thursday.

By DOUG FERGUSON / The Associated Press September 24, 2025 6 min read

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — With the opening tee shot still two days away, the gamesmanship at the 2025 Ryder Cup began Wednesday when Europe’s captain took a few subtle jabs at the opposing team’s pay-for-play structure during his speech at the opening ceremony for the biennial matches.

“We’re fueled by something money cannot buy,” Luke Donald said.

Europe, 1 up.

And then U.S. captain Keegan Bradley made the first bogey of these matches when he spoke of being around the 17th green in 1999 for one of the biggest moments in Ryder Cup history, only to mistakenly say Justin Rose — not Justin Leonard — made the 45-foot putt at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Europe, 2 up.