If there was ever a true home course advantage for the Ryder Cup, it is this week at Long Island’s Bethpage State Park Black Course, about 30 miles outside of New York City.
It is fitting for what is one of the most anticipated Ryder Cups on U.S. soil. Part of this is fueled by the magnitude of the event, which has grown enormously over the past two decades. Part of it is fueled by the venue, Bethpage Black, one of the toughest courses in the United States that also happens to be a public course. And then there is the reputation of New York sports fans for being some of the loudest, most engaged fans in America.
Another factor is the U.S. captain, Keegan Bradley, who played his college golf at nearby St. John’s University, sneaked onto Bethpage Black as a student, and, most of all, was left off the last Ryder Cup team — as seen on the Netflix series “Full Swing.”
On the other side, the captain Luke Donald, former world No. 1, is returning to the role after his successful Ryder Cup campaign in Rome in 2023. Donald’s team is essentially the same team. The one quirky exception: Rasmus Hojgaard has taken the spot of his twin brother, Nicolai.
While Bethpage Black has hosted major championships before, including a U.S. Open won by Tiger Woods in 2002 and Brooks Koepka’s P.G.A. Championship title defense in 2019, the enormity of the Ryder Cup is a different order of magnitude. For the first two days, the tens of thousands of fans on the property are following just four matches at one-time — instead of being spread out around the course like any other golf tournament.
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The post At the Ryder Cup, This Golf Course Is as Much a Character as the Players appeared first on New York Times.
