The 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black turned into a disaster for the USA team. Keegan Bradley started the ball rolling by thanking Justin Rose, instead of Justin Leonard, for holing the winning US putt at Brookline in 1999 in the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday.
And things got worse when he insisted on pairing Collin Morikawa with Harris English in the Friday morning foursomes even though all the metrics and data at his disposal told him not to.
They were soundly beaten so Bradley put them out again the next morning. They were soundly beaten again.
This was all set against a backdrop of Bradley, Morikawa and Justin Thomas whipping the New York crowd into such a frenzy of hatred against the Europeans that state troopers and police dogs had to be drafted in to protect the visiting players in scenes that shamed golf.
It was not, however, the first time that a US team has endured a humiliating meltdown at a Ryder Cup.
In fact, they are famous for them. Europe has won eight out of the last 11 Ryder Cups, I’ve been to 10 them, and these are some of the hidden details of the eight most spectacular American meltdowns I’ve seen.
Daily Mail Sport’s Oliver Holt recounts the worst Ryder Cup meltdowns he has witnessed
1. The 2004 Ryder Cup was a disaster for the USA before a ball had been hit.
The tone was set when American captain Hal Sutton Jr made a clumsy, cringey speech at the Opening Ceremony that included a section where he forgot how many children he had.
He said he wanted to thank his three kids for their support. His wife, who was watching from the front row, held up four fingers to remind him of the one that got away.
I was sitting among the audience at Oakland Hills and there was nervous laughter when Sutton made his gaffe. That laughter soon turned to gloom.
American captain Hal Sutton Jr forgot how many kids he had in an awkward address in 2004
2. At the 2010 competition at Celtic Manor, Ian Poulter, who would become an American nemesis in the Ryder Cup, gave a television interview in which he guaranteed he would deliver a point against Matt Kuchar in the singles.
I was standing outside the clubhouse when I saw a scandalised Tiger Woods, who had seen Poulter’s interview, rushing inside into the American team room to tell Kuchar what had happened.
Woods was hoping that it would motivate Kuchar to ram the boasts back down Poulter’s throat. Kuchar lost 5&4 and Poulter gained the nickname The Postman. Because he always delivered.
Ian Kuchar promised to deliver a point against Matt Kuchar, Tiger Woods told Kuchar to try and motivate him… but the Team Europe star delivered in the end
3. The most notorious press conference in Ryder Cup history took place after the Gleneagles tournament in 2014.
The USA had just been trounced by Europe and, as the players sat on the dais in a long, despondent line, Phil Mickelson launched into open criticism of captain Tom Watson.
It felt desperately awkward being in the same room as Mickelson laid into a living legend of golf. Watson is one of the most august presences in golf and this was a humiliation.
When, in the midst of the row, someone asked US player Jim Furyk to comment, he managed a thin smile. ‘Gee thanks,’ he said. ‘Just sitting over here, minding my own business.’ The exchange between Mickelson and Watson has been used ever since as a symbol of US dysfunction at the Ryder Cup.
Phil Mickelson tore into USA captain Tom Watson in an excruciating press conference in 2014
4. Another press conference: after the USA had blown a commanding lead to lose at Medinah in 2012, Jim Furyk faced the media again.
He had bogeyed the last two holes of his singles match against Sergio Garcia to concede the match that swung the competition Europe’s way.
Furyk, a devout Baptist, was asked whether he had still believed God was on his side when he missed the second of his putts. Furyk mumbled an answer and then fixed the journalist with a death stare that lasted for about two minutes, long after the press conference had moved on to other questions.
Then an American journalist asked Furyk whether, after gaining a reputation for choking in individual tournaments, it felt any different to choke for your country. I was watching through my fingers by that stage as the inquest continued.
Devout Baptist Jim Furyk was fuming when asked if he still believed God was on his side after missing a putt in 2012
5. The 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor was plagued by biblical downpours and the US team quickly discovered that their waterproof jackets, partly designed by Lisa Pavin, the wife of US captain Corey Pavin, weren’t up to the job.
That was a crazy competition to report on because the downpours turned many of the spectator walkways and vantage points into hazardous mudslides.
Early in another comprehensive defeat, the American players were pictured looking particularly bedraggled and unhappy. During a rain delay, Captain Pavin was asked about the suits: ‘Well, we were disappointed with the performance of them, and you know, we just fixed it. They were not doing what we wanted them to do, so we went out and bought some more waterproofs.’
By the time they got the new gear, Europe had the advantage.
The 2010 Ryder Cup was plagued by downpours and the Americans had not come prepared
6. Hal Sutton Jr’s decision to pair Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the two Alpha males of the US team, together at Oakland Hills in 2004, has gone down as one of the most calamitous decisions in the history of the Ryder Cup.
Sutton wanted them to ‘set the tone’ but Woods could barely look at Mickelson, who had just switched to Callaway clubs and whose ball-striking was erratic at best.
They lost their morning fourballs match against Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington but Sutton doubled down and paired them together again in the afternoon foursomes.
I followed that game around the course and there were times when Woods did not even stand on the tee with Mickelson when he was preparing to drive. Woods would stand half-way down the fairway. It was as if he could not even bear to watch Mickelson play. The American superstars lost that game, too. After that, even Sutton abandoned his disastrous experiment.
Tiger Woods (left) and Phil Mickelson (right) were a calamitous pairing for Team USA in 2004
7. Patrick Reed has never been the most popular player on the American team but his alienation from the rest of the guys reached its peak at the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, just outside Paris.
During the competition, it became an open secret that Reed wanted to partner Jordan Spieth but Spieth did not want to partner him. When the US fell to a humiliating seven-point defeat, Spieth was asked about the issue and obfuscated. Reed was eager to talk but the microphone was kept studiously away from him.
The atmosphere in the press conference was incredibly awkward as it became apparent that Reed was being silenced.
At times like that, teams usually do everything they can to present a united front in public but Reed did not try to hide his dismay. So, he gave an interview an hour after the press conference instead.
‘The issue’s obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me,’ Reed said. ‘I don’t have any issue with Jordan. When it comes right down to it, I don’t care if I like the person I’m paired with or if the person likes me as long as it works and it sets up the team for success.’
Reed said he was disappointed he had not been given the chance to speak earlier. ‘I was about to light up the room like Phil in ’14,’ he said.
Things got awkward in 2018 when Patrick Reed (right) wanted to partner Jordan Spieth *left) – but his desire was unrequited
Patrick Cantlay’s caddy Joe LaCava tried some mind games with Team Europe in 2023 but it backfired
He had a shouting match with Rory McIlroy and it became a rallying cry for Team Europe
8. Late on Saturday afternoon during the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside Rome, the European fans were having a lot of fun taunting American star Patrick Cantlay.
Waving their hats in the air after reports that Cantlay was refusing to wear his in protest over not being paid for his participation in the event, the mockery got to the Americans in the end.
When Cantlay, partnering Xander Schauffele, made a 43ft birdie putt on the 18th hole in his fourball match against Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick to pile the pressure on their opponents, Cantlay’s caddy, Joe LaCava, began waving his hat back at the crowds.
LaCava then lingered on the green in McIlroy’s line of sight as he was lining up his putt. McIlroy was rattled and missed his putt. So did Fitzpatrick.
But the incident led to a shouting match between McIlroy and the American team later that evening and the LaCava’s overstepping of the mark worked as a rallying cry for the Europeans as they secured another dominant victory the next day.
