The Ryder Cup is almost around the corner. Just a few days left for the biennial event, both team have been trying their best to get an edge over the other. For Keegan Bradley and co, it was visible through the relentless effort at the Procore Championship to form a much-needed bond between each other before the showdown. And for Luke Donald and team, it was a full spectacle when Team Europe visited New York on a two-day reconnaissance trip. But above all, what’s quite obvious is the mental tactic both team captains have been dabbling with to get into each other’s heads.

Bradley, as per the official Instagram page of the Ryder Cup USA, took out time and visited the US Junior Ryder Cup team. A carousel of a few snaps was posted, with Bradley seen mentoring the junior players, watching their play, and clicking pictures with captain Suzy Whaley and the rest. The caption read, “The U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team had a special visit from Captain Keegan Bradley prior to their practice round at Bethpage Black!” The Junior Ryder Cup is set to take place from September 23rd to 25th at the same course.

Now, here is where it gets interesting. This post comes hours after Luke Donald visited his side of the team. A reel was posted on the same account, where Donald is heard saying, “You were an inspiration for us two years ago,” to the junior team and captain Stephen Gallacher. In 2023, the young squad of Europe took over the USA in Rome with a massive score of 20.5 to 9.5. This victory broke a streak of six consecutive Junior Ryder Cup wins for the US. A few days later, Donald’s Team Europe won their Ryder Cup at the same course.

For fans watching, the unfolding of such incidents is a buildup to what one can expect at Bethpage Black. New York, known for its notorious crowd, will not spare a dime to dominate the away team as they try to defend their title. This can derail their play on the course. So, to get ahead of this, Team Europe has been indulging in such symbolic gestures for the past couple of weeks.

This happened during the Walker Cup as well, when Rory McIlroy phoned in Team Great Britain & Ireland, asking them to defeat Team USA because “I know we’re going to beat them at Bethpage.” A day later, Keegan posted on X after the USA was inching ahead with a lead, encouraging the amateurs. And then hours before the final, Byrson DeChambeau visited the team, giving away some advice, and rode along with Captain Nathan Smith on golf carts. “That was pretty special,” Smith said later. The US won the event eventually, dominating GB&I with 17 to 9.

Not just symbolism, but McIlroy also recently revealed that his team has apparently been using VR headsets designed to stimulate the noise of Bethpage Black! “…It’s better to try to de-sensitize yourself as much as possible before you get in there,” he explained.

These are all gameplay. Such incidents are pretty normal occurrences, not just before the game but during the main rounds too. With so many expectations from both sides of the Atlantic, players on either side of the team, rile up against each other in what otherwise is a relaxing gentleman’s game. Remember the Hatgate incident in Rome?

Bradley’s constant presence at the Napa Valley, even though he didn’t participate in the event himself. It definitely might have irked not just Europeans but also the Tour’s officials.

He also has been very vocal against any criticism disguised as advice when he was considering being part of the team as a playing captain. Earlier, when McIlroy reportedly passed on the opportunity of captaining future Ryder Cups, he cited the difficulty of being a playing captain. Now this could have been a jibe at Bradley; we might not know. But Bradley certainly assumed it was. “How does he [Rory] know? Has he ever done it?” responded Bradley when asked about the same.

That’s what separates the Ryder Cup from regular PGA Tour or DP World Tour events. Nonetheless, these symbolic gestures are still better than the jibes players eventually start taking on each other in the spirit of the game.

Rivalry heats up ahead of Ryder Cup

At Bethpage Black, the simmering tension between Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau is shaping up to be a great subplot ahead of the main story. Speaking to Ewan Murray of The Guardian, McIlroy laughed when asked about DeChambeau’s claim of “chirping the ear” of McIlroy during the Ryder Cup rounds.

“I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people,” he said. “That is basically what I think of that. To get attention, he will mention me or Scottie [Scheffler] or others.”

This ‘rivalry’ between the two reportedly dates back to the Masters, where DeChambeau struggled to mark a win and McIlroy eventually got the upper hand, claiming his long-awaited green jacket. Bryson also had said that McIlroy would not speak to him at Augusta this year. McIlroy later responded that he was focused and “not going to try and be his [Bryson’s] best mate out there.”

That underlying friction, combined with the intensity of match play at Bethpage Black and the expected daily crowd of 50,000 fans, sets the stage for a showdown that promises to be as psychological as it is physical.