Paul Childs-Reuters via Imagn Im
The United States was unable to harness the home-course advantage it had on its side when Europe prevailed at the Ryder Cup earlier this year. There were a number of factors that contributed to the loss, and Justin Thomas strongly implied the greenskeepers at Bethpage Black failed to comply with a request his team was relying on to gain an edge.
The team that serves as the host for the Ryder Cup is able to take advantage of some perks that come with welcoming the visiting squad into hostile territory.
The crowd tends to be the biggest factor, and the spectators who assembled to try to give Team USA a boost at Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup in 2025 emerged as the hottest topic of conversation during a tournament where their boorish behavior attracted a ton of criticism from players on both sides.
However, the home team is also able to make tweaks to the course in an attempt to cater to its players’ strong suits while trying to put the opposing squad at a disadvantage, and American captain Keegan Bradley admitted he missed the mark with a setup that largely failed to penalize players for errant shots on a infamously difficult course that is usually notorious for punishing inaccuracy.
The speed of the greens (or lack thereof) at Bethpage Black also garnered a fair amount of attention, and Justin Thomas became the latest person to imply something was amiss while looking back at the tournament.
Justin Thomas suggested the greenskeepers at Bethpage Black failed to comply with Team USA’s request for quicker greens
It looked like Europe was going to coast to a victory when it entered the final day of the 2025 Ryder Cup with a seemingly insurmountable 11 1/2-3 1/2 lead, but the Americans made things unexpectedly interesting before ultimately falling by a final score of 15-13.
The greens were noticeably quicker on the final day of play, and while there’s no telling if that played a role in Team USA’s ability to mount a surge, the Americans were hoping to benefit from faster speeds heading into a tournament where vice captain Jim Furyk said his guys were initially surprised by how slow they were playing.
Furyk said greenskeepers informed the team the greens measured at a 12.5 on the Stimpmeter (the device used to evaluate the speed of golf balls on the putting surface) before play got underway, but he made it clear every player he spoke with was skeptical that was the case.
That includes Justin Thomas, who echoed that sentiment while expressing his displeasure with the state of the greens during an appearance on the No Laying Up Podcast.
Thomas, who went 2-2 in his matches at Bethpage Black, made it clear there was a disconnect between Team USA leadership and the greenskeepers tasked with setting up the course, saying:
“I don’t know why they weren’t at all what Keegan had asked for. He’d been pretty clear asking for a certain speed and wanting them fast enough, and I watched them argue with us that they were a 13 [on the Stimpmeter].
It’s like, ‘Guys, we play golf every week.’ Look on TV how many guys are leaving putts short. You can’t have a putt roll three feet, four feet past the hole. These greens are slow. Speed them up.
It was just bizarre, because that’s just not something you’d expect at a home Ryder Cup.”
Thomas noted both teams had to grapple with the same greens while making it clear he wasn’t trying to make an excuse for the loss, but it’s pretty clear something was lost in translation at some point.