If a point was awarded for the best captain’s speech during the opening ceremony of the Ryder Cup, Team Europe would be taking a 1-0 lead into Friday’s action.
Team Europe captain Luke Donald was poised throughout Wednesday’s opening ceremony, was noticeably calm in front of New Yorkers filling the crowd, and even delivered a jab at the U.S. team by stating the Europeans are “fuelled by something money can’t buy.” This was obviously a direct callout to the American side being paid for their efforts this week.
As for U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, the nerves didn’t exactly dissipate while he was on stage. As a guy from New England serving as the team captain for the event being held in New York, the pressure for him and his 12-man team to deliver is palpable, and that pressure appears to have messed with his brain for a split second during his speech.
Keegan Bradley delivers his opening remarks at the Ryder Cup. (Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images)
Bradley took a moment during the opening ceremony to talk about when he first fell in love with the biennial event, making a callback to the 1999 Battle of Brookline when American Justin Leonard stormed back to halve his singles match against Jose Maria Olazabal to push the U.S. to a 14.5-13.5 victory.
Instead of mentioning Justin Leonard, Bradley accidentally said Justin Rose, who wasn’t on that 1999 European team, but is on the 2025 European squad.
“The Ryder Cup became personal for me in 1999 at Brookline,” Bradley stated. “I was 13 years old, perched on my dad’s shoulders watching Justin Rose’s miracle putt drop on 17. When the crowd erupted on 18, my dad let me join in on the celebration.
“That was the moment golf stopped being a game and started being a calling. That day changed my life.”
Mistakes happen, but luckily, Bradley’s came on a stage on American soil, because if he made that gaffe ahead of a Ryder Cup across the pond, he’d never hear the end of it.
The opening ceremony was pushed up to Wednesday with the threat of inclement weather on Thursday. Friday morning’s foursome pairings will be announced at 4:00 PM ET on Thursday afternoon as originally scheduled.
