Webb Simpson has admitted that Team USA’s biggest mistake at last year’s Ryder Cup involved cutting back most of the rough at Bethpage Black, while he named the player he wishes had featured more in New York.
The 2025 Ryder Cup has the potential to be a watershed moment for Team USA. Europe became the fourth away side to win the event over the previous three decades.
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Of course, the US’s most recent victory on European soil came back in 1993.
Webb Simpson reflects on the mistakes of the 2025 Ryder Cup
The scoreline at Bethpage ended up flattering Keegan Bradley‘s side. They fought back brilliantly on Sunday. But there is absolutely no question that they were completely outplayed over the first two days.
Bradley made some baffling decisions along the way, including pairing Collin Morikawa and Harris English in both foursomes sessions. He also failed to get anything like the best out of both Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau.
However, it was another decision that backfired most on the American team, according to vice-captain Webb Simpson.
Speaking on the Sliced podcast, Simpson conceded that they gave Europe a helping hand with how Bethpage was set up for the week.
“The number one glaring thing if you go back, above everything, was we should have had long rough like Bethpage normally has. I think a few of our guys, their weaponry was taken away because we had no rough,” he said.
“And I saw a stat Monday morning after the Ryder Cup that said of 26 times Europe was in the rough and the Americans were in the fairway, Europe won the hole 16 times, from the rough while we were in the fairway. So that’s mind boggling to even think.
“We had so much rain come Wednesday, Thursday. The greens got so soft, and so the back pins from the fairway, it was hard to keep it near the hole. So actually, rough was an advantage a lot of times.
“Tactically, rough would have changed a lot of things for us. I will say this, another thing I learned is pairing guys up is way harder than I ever imagined, because it’s not just can these guys play together? Do these guys games line up? Do they like each other? It’s more if we put them here, what are we doing for the rest of the session? What are we doing this afternoon? What about for the rest of the Ryder Cup? What about rest? Some guys have endless energy, but no matter who you are, five matches in a Ryder Cup in three days is a ton of golf. Not to mention, you’re not getting your normal sleep. We’re very busy throughout the week, and that’s something Keegan really put his foot down and did a great job of trying his best to protect the guys’ rest, sleep, routines. At the end of the day, there’s just some things that are just unavoidable, on both sides.
“I think looking back, hindsight, sure, we’d have changed a couple of pairings. I wish we had put Cameron Young out all five, but who knew he was going to play as well as he did?”
What Webb Simpson wanted to tell the crowds heckling Rory McIlroy at Bethpage
As well as the bizarre setup, the 2025 Ryder Cup is likely to be remembered for the behaviour of the crowds.
Tom Watson felt compelled to apologise to the European team on social media due to how disgusted he was by what he saw from sections of those behind the ropes.
There is no question that the abuse was at its most intense on Saturday afternoon during the match involving Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, and Cameron Young.
Few will forget the images of McIlroy refusing to putt on the sixth green for some time due to the amount of heckling he was dealing with.
Lowry seemed to double up as a bodyguard for his good friend while also trying to win a match in the most intense environment.
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Simpson did condemn the behaviour of those who crossed the line, despite feeling that Europe should have been prepared for the worst.
He also claimed that those spectators cost the American team by motivating their opponents.
“I’ve got to be careful here how I answer this. So I was with Rory and Shane in the match on Saturday afternoon when it got really bad, and they were playing against Justin Thomas and Cameron Young. And Rory’s been a great friend since we were in the Walker Cup together in 2007. I’m friendly with Shane. The fans had definitely crossed the line. I’m fine with yelling and giving players a hard time, but I’ve never liked it at all when fans bring something personal out, and they did that with a lot of the European players,” he said.
“I wish I could have had a megaphone to our fans and said, hey, you’ve got to start picking up on this firing them up. They’re playing better. They’re holing more putts. So we’ve got to change our tactic. If a free-throw shooter in the NBA, if he shoots better when people are doing crazy things in the background, then everybody should be quiet and sit down.
“It gets so emotional. Any time players interact with the crowd, and Americans have done it over in Europe as well, we’re guilty of it, it’s just going to ignite more of the fans to yell things that they probably shouldn’t yell. But we all expected it in New York. And I think if the European team didn’t expect it, they were a little naive. They had played in New York enough. It’s going to be bad. It doesn’t make it right. Our fans shouldn’t have said some of the things they said, but we all expected that it was going to go south pretty quick.”
You certainly got the impression that neither Thomas nor Young would have been particularly comfortable had they won the full point during that session.
Thomas was seen on several occasions trying to encourage the crowd to quieten down. That distraction cannot have been helpful.
It is interesting that Simpson says Europe should have been prepared for what was coming their way. It does appear that Luke Donald did attempt to get his team ready with the help of virtual reality.
In fact, it seems that the only organisation that wanted to bury their heads in the sand was the PGA of America, with Don Rea famously giving a comically bad interview on the Sunday morning.
There were certainly plenty of lessons to be learned from what happened in New York last September. And there could be more frustration on the cards for Team USA if they ignore those lessons.
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