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The Starter: A Ryder Cup that was not America's best look

The lone bright spot for the U.S. might have been Sunday's singles, but by that point the Bethpage edition was overshadowed by questionable decisions and boorish home crowd behavior.

๐ŸŒ๏ธ Is this the kind of country that people can get away with slinging sickening vile obscenities and horrible abuse at Rory and Erica McIlroy and Shane Lowry? Why didnโ€™t people in the gallery take pictures of the vulgar hecklers and point them out to police and security personnel?

๐ŸŒ๏ธ And how about PGA of America president Don Rea saying that the same thing happened in Rome two years ago? Seriously? Where was he all weekend? And didnโ€™t the PGA hire a comedian who tried to lead the crowd in a vulgar chant before McIlroy teed off?

Ryder Cup 2025
Team USA, from left, Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Cam Young during Saturday's afternoon play at the 2025 Ryder Cup.

๐ŸŒ๏ธ While itโ€™s nice to applaud the U.S. comeback on Sunday, are there any moral victories in the Ryder Cup?

๐ŸŒ๏ธ Scottie Scheffler pitched a shutout in the first four sessions. Could captain Keegan Bradley not find him a partner? Scheffler and Russell Henley in foursomes โ€” twice. Really?

๐ŸŒ๏ธ While it was great that Scheffler played McIlroy in singles, did it look like the match really mattered to either one of them?

๐ŸŒ๏ธ For the first four sessions, did it seem as if the American team played cautiously and tentatively, trying not to make mistakes? And did the Europeans seem to go at every flag and make every putt with speed? Which approach was more successful?

๐ŸŒ๏ธ Because Paul McGinley โ€” the most partisan broadcaster in golf โ€” has spent the past seven years as a key advisor for the European team, can he be trusted to give TV viewers anything more than European propaganda?

๐ŸŒ๏ธ Wonder what would happen if any former Ryder Cupper who has been kicked to the curb by the European apparatus was offered $1 million to reveal Europeโ€™s "secret sauce"?

๐ŸŒ๏ธ How would you like to be the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain who inherits this mess?


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