“This is no one’s fault but mine,” Keegan Bradley admitted after Team USA’s unexpected loss at Bethpage Black. After waiting more than a decade to make the Ryder Cup roster, Bradley lived his childhood dream of representing America in red, white, and blue, but made the ultimate sacrifice by taking on the role of playing captain. And still, the USA lost. Critics were quick to weigh in, including Brandel Chamblee, who never holds back.

Chamblee, discussing the Ryder Cup with Bailey on their “The Favorite Chamblee” podcast, discussed Sunday’s showdown in New York. While no one would have thought the US to close the gap of a 7-point trail, it did come quite close to a miraculous comeback. But unfortunately, it faltered. Based on that, when Bailey asked Chamblee what grade he would give the two captains, the golf analyst didn’t skip a beat before saying, “Oh, a B. You know, Donald’s A+.”

At first glance, the analysis seems simple. Both times Keegan Bradley played in the Ryder Cup, the US lost. The first may not have been entirely his fault, but it still stands. Meanwhile, under Luke Donald’s captaincy, Europe won back-to-back trophies. On that basis, Chamblee’s deduction holds weight. Yet rather than outlining Bradley’s shortcomings, Chamblee shifted the focus and chose to praise Donald instead.

Chamblee said on the podcast, “Keegan said he thought he [Luke Donald] was the greatest ever captain of the European Ryder Cup team. You know, I tend to agree with him. It’s clear he’s a very good opponent. It’s clear he’s very smart. And he has a knack for setting the right tone, right vision, right theme to properly prepare his team so that they can play the best golf they can play.”

Donald indeed was a great captain by any standards. He went to great lengths to ensure his team performs top-notch, the biggest hurdle of which was the crowd. But he strategised and came up with unique solutions to desensitize his squad to any such bullying. Whether it was hiring an American comedian to roast the team or to make them practice wearing VR headsets induced with raunchy crowd noise, he did everything.

And the result was clear: Europe outscored the Americans on their home turf, 15-13. In the end, even Bradley could not help but admire his old friend cum colleague. “Luke’s an incredible leader,” Bradley admitted. “In my eyes, I think he’s the best European Ryder Cup captain ever.”

Contrasting this, Chamblee went on to give his remarks on Bradley’s opening ceremony mishaps. “…The microphone, the podium didn’t really fit in, and obviously, he misspoke, and we go down there and misspoke in front of people. Well, [like] Keegan, most people are fairly nervous to get out and talk in front of a massive audience. And so maybe it put that off, and it caught him a little bit off guard. I mean, I’m not saying he was bad in any way. It was just that Luke was extraordinary.”

His remarks were based on the fact that the opening ceremony was moved a day earlier, which gave the Americans a day less to practice. Bradley was unaware of this, and such a logistical change might have put him off. In fact, for Chamblee, Bradley should not have been the captain in the first place.

Despite all this, Brandel Chamblee made sure to give Bradley a little benefit of the doubt. “Keegan did, on the whole, from start to finish, a nice job. It’s hard to go do something for the very first time with so much pressure on you. But I think there were mistakes made, Keegan would admit that.” Chamblee’s remarks for the US have been pointed since the beginning, taking into consideration when he called Bryson DeChambeau a “captain’s nightmare.”

And here is the thing: Chamblee is not saying anything that Keegan himself has not said. Captain America was very open to acknowledging all of his mistakes, a nod at his strong character. “When you are the leader of the team and you lose, you have to take the blame.”

There were, of course, mistakes made, and the list is long.

What all went wrong on Bethpage Black?

Several things were unusual at this year’s Ryder Cup, which may have contributed to the US’s disappointing loss, and many of these can be attributed to Keegan Bradley. However, one of the missteps was certainly beyond his control.

Bethpage Black, with its fame warning sign and tough course, should have been a natural fortress for the Americans. Instead, the setup was stripped of nearly every home advantage.

With such changes, Europe thrived, while the Americans who had built a team of players designed to excel on complex US Open-style tests were left scrambling. “I definitely made a mistake on the course setup,” Bradley said. “If I could go back, I probably would have changed that.”

Another flashpoint was the way Bradley paired the duos. His decision to send out Harris English and Collin Morikawa twice in foursomes did not sit right with many. Data Golf’s Optimal Pairings model had actually ranked them 132nd out of 132 possible US combinations — dead last in compatibility. And the result proved it.

They were brutally hammered 5&4 on Friday morning by Rory McIlory and Tommy Fleetwood. On Saturday, they lost 3&2 to the very same pair.

All this came with an uncharacteristic attitude of Bradley to change his pairings, meanwhile his adamant stance on the New Yorker’s boisterous behavior. “Keegan’s career is spurred by proving people wrong, but there’s a difference between using criticism as fuel and refusing to take feedback. Running back English/Morikawa—despite the overwhelming red flags before and after on the pairing—is an error born of arrogance,” wrote golf writer Joel Beall.

By Sunday, Team USA’s late surge nearly erased the damage, gaining Bradley some accolades, but the hole was already too deep. Europe’s fast start, fueled by Captain America’s flawed course setup and ill-fated pairings, ultimately proved decisive.