Despite their fightback in singles on Sunday, the USA team faced defeat at the hands of the European team with a score of 15-13 at the 2025 Ryder Cup. Much of that spotlight fell on Keegan Bradley. His poor strategies, like questionable pairings and a lack of clarity, show that the American side was never adequately prepared. And since it was the PGA of America that made Keegan the captain, PGA Tour pros like Michael Kim started pointing fingers at the management. Kim even went on to ask if they even care if the USA wins.

Putting it bluntly on an X post after the loss, Michael wrote, “I do wonder what the PGA of America thinks after this week. Is it look at all the money we brought in and that’s fantastic? Europe made all the putts and onto the next one? Do they ultimately care if US wins? Let’s just pick who the next captain we want? Any long term planning or thinking for the US side?”

While the US team gave one of the best singles performances in Ryder Cup history, the pairs were a disaster. It was clearly due to a lack of planning. For instance, pairing Collin Morikawa and Harris English twice despite their poor chemistry baffled many. And while it was Keegan’s job to do that, the PGA of America is at fault for not putting in efforts to find the right captain.

One fan even commented on the post saying that no questions were asked of Keegan before making him a captain, to which Kim replied, “I think they get in a zoom meeting and just throw up some names and go yeah I think that’ll be a great idea, let’s call him and do it. No interview process, no this is what has worked and hasn’t worked.”

The PGA Tour pro feels like the PGA of America doesn’t care who wins, all it cares about is the revenue. And therefore, it could even be beneficial for them if Team Europe wins. It would bring more traction to the talk of the next captain.

The PGA of America is never prepared

The pattern of unfavorable pairings and lack of strategies is not new. The USA is now 4-11 in the last 15 Ryder Cups, and this pattern was obvious in many of them. This shows that it’s not because of a lack of talent or because of the captain alone. It is a systematic issue. And that’s precisely what golf veteran Paul Azinger warned Scottie and the team about.

He was right to point out that the PGA of America and the captains never try to take control of the course. There are no adjustments made to make the course difficult for the arriving team.

This time, however, Keegan Bradley and the PGA of America did make some adjustments. But instead of making it difficult for Europeans, these changes made the course neutral. All the golf fans have the same complaint; they say the PGA of America neutered it. Bethpage Black had thick, rough and narrow fairways earlier. But during the 2025 Ryder Cup, the roughs were shorter and the fairways were wide.

The same is true when the PGA of America is not hosting but visiting Europe. We all remember Patrick Reed’s comments after the 2018 Ryder Cup loss. The only American pairing that lost in the Friday morning session was that of Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed.

Reed then responded to the loss, and the coach benched him for both foursome matches. To this, Reed complained about the captain, Jim Furyk. “For somebody as successful in the Ryder Cup as I am, I don’t think it’s smart to sit me twice,” he said.

Even worse than that was the 2014 Ryder Cup. The European captain, Paul McGinley, paid attention to every detail and made decisions accordingly. However, that was not the case with the American captain, Tom Watson. In fact, in a press conference after the loss, with Watson in the room, Phil Mickelson said, “Nobody here was in [on] any decision.”

The worst part is that the PGA of America does not even try to learn from its mistakes. It seems like all they care about is revenue. Hopefully, they will pay more attention to strategies and preparation after the first home soil loss since 2012 and be more prepared for the 2027 Ryder Cup.