FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — All that talk about Bethpage Black being a beast — well, maybe not this week.
The setup for this week's Ryder Cup looks more like a regular tour event than a major, with the rough cut down to a manageable 2 inches, some of the tee boxes — including on the par-4 first — moved up and a drenching bout of rain Thursday softening up the course.
Asked what kind of score Bethpage — considered the toughest municipal course in America — might surrender in a regular, four-round, stroke-play
tournament this week, Harris English of the U.S. guessed 18- to 20-under par.
“I mean, it can still bite you out there, especially that back nine,” he said. “If you miss a couple drives, you’re having some mid-irons into the greens and you can start missing in some pretty bad places.”
Winning scores from previous majors played at Bethpage have ranged from Brooks Koepka's 8-under par for the 2019 PGA Championship to Tiger Woods' 3 under at the 2002 U.S. Open.
Even those scores, under more taxing conditions, are nothing out of the ordinary. Nor are the greens — a smaller set of putting surfaces that aren't as undulating and difficult as those at some of the best-known major venues.
U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, who used to sneak onto the course when he played college golf at St. John’s (but only to play holes 2-14, where they couldn't see him from the clubhouse), disagreed with the notion that fans are angling to see their storied local track make the best in the world suffer the same way they do.
“The locals want to see us win, first off,” Bradley said. “They're passionate about their course, but they want to see us win. I don't think they'll be to concerned about the course setup.”
The U.S. is a slight betting favorite, listed by BetMGM Sportsbook at minus-145 (bet $145 to win $100), with Europe at plus-160 (bet $100 to win $160). A bettor could win $1200 on a $100 wager if the teams tie, in which case Europe would retain the cup as the defending champion.
Odds on the first set of matches came out, as well, with the match pitting Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton against Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas listed as a toss-up.
The U.S. is favored in two matches (Scottie Scheffler-Russell Henley vs. Ludvig Aberg-Matt Fitzpatrick; Xander Schauffele-Patrick Cantlay vs. Robert MacIntyre-Viktor Hovland) and Europe in the other (Rory McIlroy-Tommy Fleetwood vs. Harris English-Collin Morikawa).
Matt Fitzpatrick of England already has played in three Ryder Cup matches. That's enough for his parents to sit this one out for a couple of reasons.
Fitzpatrick said the crowd at Whistling Straits was loud and obnoxious enough that it didn't leave them with a great experience.
But there's also next week. His mother and father will be amateurs competing in the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. One will play with the former U.S. Open champion, the other with his brother, Alex Fitzpatrick, who plays on the European tour.
“They also didn't really want to ruin that experience, as well, because that’s obviously special to have that,” he said. "So it's a combination. It’s a lot of travel. It’s obviously a busy week. It’s a tiring week. And then they obviously want to have a nice week next week, as well, with me and my brother.
“No denying that they had a bad experience in the past, but there’s no reason why it has to be like that this time,” he said. “They have been to three Ryder Cups already, two away, one at home. ... I’ll miss them this week for sure. But I know that they are doing what’s best for them, and that’s what’s important.”
On the eve of the Ryder Cup, both captains took time to clean up comments they made at Wednesday’s opening ceremony.
Keegan Bradley said he made an “honest mistake” when he said European stalwart Justin Rose’s name when he meant Justin Leonard, the American who sank the winning putt in 1999.
The blunder came as Bradley was telling a story about how, as a young golf fan, he was near the 17th green in Brookline, Massachusetts, when Leonard made the 45 footer. Except, he slipped and said Rose had made it.
“Somebody yelled out Justin Rose right before I read it and said it,” Bradley said. “I didn’t even know until I was done.”
Bradley’s European counterpart, Luke Donald, said he wasn’t taking a swipe at the U.S. squad when he said the Ryder Cup “is not about prize money or world ranking points. It’s about pride.”
This year, U.S. players are getting $300,000 each to donate to charity along with a $200,000 stipend, which they’ve said they’ll also donate. Donald’s players aren’t getting anything.
“It wasn’t directed at the U.S.,” Donald said. “My speech was directed at my players. I wrote that speech six months ago. We have been very consistent where we stand and what we play for. We’re not concerned about what the U.S. are doing.”
The Americans won back one cup this week in New York.
Asterisk Talley and Anna Fang each went unbeaten at Glen Oaks and the Americans won big in the singles session for a 17 1/2 to 12 1/2 victory over Europe.
The Junior Ryder Cup features foursomes, mixed foursomes, mixed fourballs and singles. It was carried over three days because of the rain.
Europe won last year when the Ryder Cup was in Italy. The U.S. victory extended its lead in the series to 8-4-1.
“We were down first thing this morning for a long time, and these kids just fought so hard and they got the job done,” said U.S. captain Suzy Whaley, a former PGA of America president. “They saw a sea of blue on the leaderboard and knew exactly where they stood. They showed grit, perseverance and did not give up.”
Ryder Cup tickets were the most expensive ever at $750 a day for competition rounds. The secondary market is even higher.
According to TickPick, the overall average purchase price for Bethpage Black is $1,374. That compares with $508 for the last Ryder Cup in America in 2021 at Whistling Straits.
TickPick said the cheapest ticket sold for Friday's opening session was $888, more than 300% higher than the $220 for the least expensive ticket at Whistling Straits, which happened amid travel restrictions for overseas spectators because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rahm has been handed the lead-off role all four times he's played the Ryder Cup. ... The most common score in Ryder Cups dating to 1979: 14 1/2-13 1/2. It's happened seven times, with Europe winning four. ... Europe went 7-1 in foursomes matches last year, including a clean sweep on the first day. Two of the teams that went 2-0 — Rahm-Hatton and McIlroy-Fleetwood — are in the lineup for Friday.
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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
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AP Ryder Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/ryder-cup
