New Yorkers have a lot to live up to, if the build-up to this 45th Ryder Cup is anything to go by.
Team Europe’s Justin Rose believes this is the ‘most hyped’ Ryder Cup from a venue perspective. Since Bethpage Black on Long Island was given the 2025 date, talk of a raucous and wild atmosphere has been relentless.
His teammate Rory McIlroy says, ‘something will happen’ in what is presumed to be a cauldron of noise and US passion. But Rose has seen it all before in his six previous appearances for the blue and gold.
The Englishman won a pivotal point over Phil Mickelson in the Sunday singles of the 2012 matches at Medinah, a point many believe turned the tide and finished in a remarkable 14.5-13.5 win.
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Justin Rose: Ryder Cup crowd will have ‘rough, tough New York mentality’
“This one might be ramped up,” the former World No.1 and US Open champion told the NCG Golf Podcast. “Medinah in Chicago was pretty hostile and a bit like ‘Woah’. I remember walking through the ropes and there’s grown men screaming at you.
“It was like an out-of-body experience, like what is going on? But there comes a point where it just becomes noise, and it just becomes colour and noise.
“I feel like if it gets to the point where it’s just colour and noise, then I think that will not do us as much harm. It’s the very individual targeting, which might happen too.”
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The Ryder Cup represents a departure from golf’s established order of 72 holes of stroke play and polite crowd applause. This week, we will see three days of team match play action, and a fan atmosphere that resembles football more than golf.
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The atmosphere at the Ryder Cup is also what separates it from the sport’s norm. It is tribal and can lead to abusive comments aimed at players, and even their families on occasion.
Seasoned golf fans will remember the War on the Shore in 1991 and the Battle of Brookline in 1999, when tensions were taken up a notch. The ears of the players are certainly expected to be tested this week as Europe look to win away from home for the first time since Medinah, and for the third time this side of the millennium.
Rose arrives at Bethpage, a former host course of the US Open and PGA Championship, as a recent winner on the PGA Tour and one of Europe’s in-form players. He is aiming to approach each match with no pre-conceived thoughts about how the fans will behave.
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“We’ll need to be ready for every eventuality and in New York, they’re New Yorkers and they are proud to be there, and they are caricatures of themselves in that sense,” Rose added. “They’ve got to live up to being that rough, tough New York mentality, survive in the city. It is dog-eat-dog.
“We’re expecting all of that to come to life, but the Ryder Cup is a very international event. There will be a lot of European support as well. I really don’t know what to expect if I’m honest.
“I’m just trying to go into it, eyes wide open and not have a pre-conceived idea, because I’ve got a feeling that pre-conceived idea isn’t going to be right.
“It’s going to be massive. I think it’s been the most hyped Ryder Cup from a venue point of view that we’ve ever had, and that could be great, or it could be bad.”
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What do you make of these Justin Rose Ryder Cup Medinah comments? Just how loud do you think the atmosphere at the Ryder Cup in 2025 will be? Tell us on X!
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