Ryder Cup 2025 at Bethpage Black

The verdict

Europe won the 45th Ryder Cup 15 to 13 at Bethpage Black, completing a first away victory since Medinah in 2012 and handing Luke Donald a second straight win as captain after Rome. It was the result the golf looked like delivering for two days and very nearly was not. Europe built a commanding lead of 11 and a half to 4 and a half through the foursomes and fourballs, then survived a ferocious United States singles charge under Keegan Bradley that took the Sunday session 8 and a half to 3 and a half. Shane Lowry holed a nerveless putt to halve the last against Russell Henley and seal the half point that retained the cup.

On the evidence of three days on Long Island, this was a deserved European win forged on the first two days and held together by experience on the third. It also confirmed Bethpage Black as one of the great public stages in the game, even as the week raised familiar questions about crowd conduct at a home Ryder Cup.

The golf

Europe's win was built on depth and on the partnerships Donald has nurtured across two cups. The pairings sessions were close to ruthless, and by Saturday evening a seven point cushion looked, on paper, decisive. Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm and the supporting cast gave Donald the points he needed when it mattered, and the away side never trailed in the match.

What made the weekend was the United States response. Bradley's team came out for the singles with nothing to lose and threw everything at it, sweeping the early matches and dragging the contest to the very edge of the greatest comeback the event has seen. In the end the arithmetic of the first two days held, and Europe got the half point home before the door fully opened. It was both a comfortable looking final margin and a closer run thing than 15 to 13 suggests.

The venue, and the week

Bethpage Black is a brutal A.W. Tillinghast public test, the people's major venue, and it gave the Ryder Cup a raw, big city edge that few host courses can match. The galleries were enormous and partisan, and at times the behaviour drew scrutiny and comment from players and press alike, a recurring theme at home matches on both sides of the Atlantic. The golf course itself stood up superbly, long and punishing, and it remains a bucket list round for any visiting golfer.

If the week has left you wanting to walk it yourself, it can be done. Bethpage Black is a daily fee public course, and we lay out the routes in, from the state booking system to the famous overnight walk up line, in our profile of Bethpage Black and our look at the busiest tee time windows of 2026.

Our take

Europe's away win cements a golden era for the visiting side and sets up a fascinating two years to the next match. For the travelling golfer the lasting takeaway is the venue. A great public course can hold the biggest event in the game and still let an ordinary visitor tee it up the following week. Pair it with the rest of the New York and north east scene through our guide to golf in the United States and our 100 greatest courses you can play, or look ahead to the amateur game's own showpiece in our Walker Cup 2026 preview.