in sports, it refers to the supporters rooting for the local team. In the case of golf, specifically the Ryder Cup, it is the gallery cheering for the home country, loud and proud, unabashed about showing patriotism. 

The U.S. record playing “on the road” against the team from Europe is not good. In fact, it’s abysmal. Two years ago in Italy, the Americans self-imploded, going down 4-0 in the opening foursomes and eventually losing 16½ to 11½ . Maybe they went into the tournament thinking they were going to win and didn’t bother with enough preparation and team unity. 

Now the Americans are back on home soil, in which they have done much better. The 2025 Ryder Cup takes place this week at historic Bethpage Black Golf Course, or to use an AC/DC song they are Back In Black. The mistakes of two years ago have clearly led to a different strategy, beginning with 10 of the 12 American Ryder Cup players competing in the Procore Championship earlier this month. It otherwise would have been an event the top players skipped because the 2024-25 season had ended. This is the time of the year when the majority of the elite players are enjoying time off, tinkering on their game or testing out equipment. Bryson DeChambeau (Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot) couldn’t participate in the Procore Championship because it was a PGA Tour event and LIV Golf players are prohibited, while Xander Schauffele (Callaway Chrome Tour) was with his wife, Maya, who recently gave birth to the couple’s first child. 

The Procore Championship, won by Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1), was a chance for the Americans to begin the process of preparing differently for this year’s Ryder Cup. Apparently, the team collectively stayed in the Eastern seaboard afterward instead of going their separate ways to work on bonding. The fact Captain Keegan Bradley (Srixon Z-Star) opted not to play in the tournament was another key move to put the Americans in a proper psychological frame of mind by putting the team mentality first. 

I commend Bradley for what he did because he has enough on his plate as Captain. Make no mistake this is not all on his shoulders, but clearly, he saw what happened to U.S. Captain Zach Johnson (Titleist Pro V1x) two years ago. Bradley was not chosen for the tournament, which upset him but in retrospect may have been a blessing. Johnson suffered the slings and arrows of his team’s misfortune, to use a Shakespearian line. 

American pride is unlike anything else in the world. Americans cheer for the flag when it comes to sporting competitions against the world. In the Ryder Cup, American supporters will dress in traditional red, white and blue and they gleefully shout, “USA, USA, USA.” Because the Europeans don’t have a song since they are a mashup of countries, they have to come up with a cheer of their own. While there will be a few European fans in attendance this week, they will be drowned out by the American brigade. 

I don’t expect we’ll see any of the controversies of two years ago, specifically about players not wearing hats. A newspaper report suggested Patrick Cantlay (Titleist Pro V1x) didn’t wear a hat because he felt the players should be financially compensated for playing in the tournament. Fans taunted him waving their hats at him prior to a shot. But the story was untrue. He said he didn’t wear a hat because the ones the players were given didn’t fit his head, similar to 2021. How can a manufacturer that has all the players hat sizes make that kind of mistake? Well, when players wear hats promoting a brand, the hats can always be remade if there is a problem. And they get paid by their brand manufacturer to wear a hat with a logo. It’s different with a manufacturer for a team competition. The players aren’t obligated to wear hats in the Ryder Cup.  

Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5) didn’t wear one in the 2016 Ryder Cup became he claimed the one he was issued was too big for his “pea head.”  But it’s funny how something as silly as not wearing a hat becomes overblown, especially because of a false media story. 

The 2016 Ryder Cup is remembered for McIlroy and Patrick Reed engaging in a robust display on the eighth hole. McIlroy sunk a long putt, then cupped his right ear and the crowd booed him. Reed sunk a long putt of his own and then signaled with a finger to McIlroy as if to say, “not today.” The two had fun going forward, respecting one another’s talent. Reed sunk a putt on the final hole to win and the crowd went nuts. 

Two years ago after the Europeans won, McIlroy said: “So I’ve said this for the last probably six or seven years to anyone that will listen: I think one of the biggest accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup, and that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.” 

When Cantlay sunk a clutch putt in the 2023 Ryder Cup against McIlroy, his teammates and their caddies started waving their hats in his direction. That was quite funny. 

Prior to a putt in the same match, Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, got into McIlroy’s line of sight while he was lining up a putt. McIlroy asked LaCava to move and he took his time. That got Shane Lowry (Srixon Z-Star XV) upset, and he and LaCava had words. McIlroy got into an emotional verbal confrontation with LaCava later that night while leaving the course, though the matter was resolved the next morning. 

There have been numerous incidents in Ryder Cup history that have made this tournament so memorable. Players on the PGA Tour are for the most part genial and apolitical. They respect one another on and off the course. It is the emotion of the crowd that stirs things up. 

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.