Should Keegan Bradley be Concerned About Team Europe? The Data Points to Trouble Ahead

Only a few weeks remain for the Bethpage showdown. The Europeans will travel to the United States to try to break the 13-year winless streak on American soil. Keegan Bradley’s squad is packed with the world’s apex, in-form players, and even some wildcards. Luke Donald, on the other hand, has the tested formula, picking nearly the exact team that won them the title in Rome two years ago. Now the question arises: Is this something Team U.S. should be worried about?

As Brandel Chamblee told Trey Wingo, “The last five Ryder Cups have been won by the home team and have been won by an average of almost seven points.” Since 2014, the home team has always had the advantage in the Ryder Cup. On average, the winning team has scored 6.6 points more than its opponents. The biggest margin of victory since 2014 has been Team U.S.’s 10-point win of 19-9 in 2021.

The big difference between the team that played then and Bradley’s squad of 2025 is their firepower off the tee. Of course, both teams had Bryson DeChambeau and his incredible drives. But the 2021 squad also had Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Daniel Berger, and Tony Finau, who played a vital role in helping their team get a great start.

Chamblee talked about the time Team U.S. could set the course to their advantage because of immaculate long-range hitters like Finau, Koepka, and DeChambeau, and great short-game players like Spieth and Berger. They contributed 6.5 points out of the 19 for the team. Without such dynamic players, the American team might only have an edge of a point or two as they are playing on home soil in 2025. On the other hand, the European team is coming in with confidence.

They have a Grand Slam champion in their ranks, someone who has finally broken his PGA Tour curse and won his first title, a few others who have broken their winless streaks, and all in all, an in-form squad. Luke Donald has also shown confidence in his squad by picking the same lineup that won them the title in Rome. And stats show that both teams are more equally matched than ever before. As per Golf Digest, the 12 European players have won 53.5% of their possible Ryder Cup points. Team U.S. is not far ahead, as their 12-man squad has won 53.6% of all the points available.

Renowned journalist Kyle Porter also shared a few numbers recently about the two teams. Turns out Team Europe also leads its rivals in strokes gained from ball striking average rank and tee to green average rank. Lastly, the American players have reached the top 25 in events 59.8% of the time on average, while the Europeans did it 60.2% of the time.

Team U.S. does have an advantage when it comes to the average Data Golf world ranking. However, as Chamblee himself stated, world ranking has never been a factor that has determined the result of the Ryder Cup. “Europe always goes in hugely underranked and as the underdog. And they just put teams together far better than the U.S. They use statistics far better than the U.S. They are just way beyond the ability of the U.S. teams to understand the metrics that are important to putting teams together, picking them, pairing them, and preparing them for the Ryder Cup.”

So the ranks may favor them, but the only stats that Team U.S. really dominate are strokes gained off putting and overall strokes gained. That, too, would drastically change if Scottie Scheffler‘s and Sam Burns’s numbers were not considered. So how does the American team really win at Bethpage this year?

How can Team U.S. avoid a Ryder Cup embarrassment on home soil?

“I feel like it’s going to be tight. I feel like Europe could win it. The European team has been, strategically, playing a lot of golf over here in the U.S.,” said Brandel Chamblee, as he has already predicted what will happen at Bethpage. And this is not an isolated opinion. Many others believe that Team Europe is going in as the stronger side in New York.

Even Kyle Porter sarcastically pointed out how strategically unorganized Team U.S. might be with a tweet. He wrote, “Europe: We have planned every detail down to what the children of our players will eat for breakfast every day of the Ryder Cup. Luke Donald has 27 contingency plans for Friday afternoon alone. USA: Our captain might be our fourth-best player; we need to make some calls.”

And for most of their team strategy, the American side was still debating whether Keegan Bradley should be a playing captain or not, a month before the Captain’s Picks. While it was a valid debate considering Bradley was one of the best players on the team, it was still stretched out a little too long.

However, there are certain stats that they might need to focus on if they want to get the upper hand going to Bethpage. One of them would be to dominate the Sunday singles round. 1-on-1 contests are where things can drastically turn around for any team. Bradley & his vice-captains should consider the fact that the last time Europe won on American soil, they dominated Team U.S. on Sunday to steal the lead. In such positions, it’s vital to have players like Justin Thomas, who is undefeated in singles contests in the Ryder Cup, against big opponents like Jon Rahm or Rory McIlroy.

They also need to have the right team composition for doubles matches. Finding the right partners for Bryson DeChambeau for both fourballs and foursomes is vital. As many have already pointed out on X, Cameron Young and DeChambeau use the same golf ball. So having them play foursomes together would be the ideal strategy. Hopefully, Keegan Bradley has already considered all these factors and much more as he prepares for the 2025 Ryder Cup.