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A partisan crowd. An unwelcoming environment. The Ryder Cup 2025 saw and heard things that Alex Ritthamel, Ben Griffin‘s caddie, cannot ever repeat to anyone.“You know, you only get to hear really what you’re around for.” But what drove the New York crowd to such an extent that lines between personal and professional, the emcee’s behavioural conduct, and physical altercations with the player’s family got blurred? Well, the boisterousness was always expected, but the boundaries probably got pushed more with the presence of someone: Donald Trump.

Ritthamel, speaking to Mel Reid and Kira Dixon on the Quiet Please! podcast sheds light on how things changed the moment POTUS entered the course of Bethpage Black. Griffin, who was making his first appearance on the biennial event, was one of those swamped by Trump’s overarching presence. Sharing Griffin’s mental state at that time, Ritthamel recalled, “It seemed like he was actually okay. Like having the President there probably escalates things a little bit.” Upon hearing this, Reid chimes in with, “He shuts everything down.”

Trump’s attendance at the Ryder Cup was the first ever by a sitting U.S. President. He flew over the course aboard Air Force One (reportedly performing a dramatic flyover) and landed at a nearby airport, entering the grounds around 11:50 a.m. local time, 45 mins later. Some local reports say the flyover even caused a temporary interruption in play near Hole 15. One of the many things to get shut down were cell services. “I didn’t have cell service for like two hours,” shared Reid, who was present at the course for the event. To this Ritthamel added, “I mean more than two hours.”

Although the cell outages were reportedly due to the overwhelming crowd, there were several reports of traffic congestion, as well as extra security screenings for the fans after the President’s arrival. The moment he was there, the vibes of an already tensed Bethpage changed. Amidst the loud chants of “U-S-A,” the course saw heightened security measures of roughly 500 personnel patrolling the area. BBC reports it included Secret Services, FBI, CIA, and state police, as well as SWAT teams with snipers, bomb squads, and canine units. For Trump, the appearance at Bethpage Black also marked a full-circle moment. Four years earlier, he had been persona non grata in the professional golf world, ostracized in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The PGA of America pulled its 2022 PGA Championship from his Bedminster, New Jersey, course, and New York City officials moved to terminate his company’s contract to operate the Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx. Now, the very organization that distanced itself from him was hosting an event where he stood front and center, greeted by chants and cameras instead of silence. But even now, organizers had reportedly asked Trump to postpone his appearance until the afternoon rounds, aware that his movements would paralyze the grounds. The concern wasn’t unfounded— his presence has disrupted sporting events before.

Just a few weeks earlier, his attendance at the 2025 U.S. Open men’s tennis final in New York caused major delays and crowd bottlenecks. Fans were forced to wait over an hour at security checkpoints as the Secret Service imposed sweeping lockdowns around Arthur Ashe Stadium. Some spectators missed the opening set, and the match itself was delayed by roughly 30 minutes.

A similar issue arose during the 2023 LIV Golf event at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey, where fans described long delays, restricted movement, and the sudden closure of spectator areas when Trump arrived on site. Even then, the Secret Service’s sweep temporarily paused play near the 10th tee.

That history prompted early coordination between Ryder Cup organizers and federal agencies. According to The Guardian, PGA officials initially requested that Trump’s motorcade enter Bethpage from a restricted northern gate and avoid the course perimeter during active play, a plan later abandoned when his Air Force One flyover coincided with live action near the 15th hole.

He, along with his granddaughter Kai Trump, also a golfer, stayed there till mid-morning. He later departed after giving Bryson DeChambeau a fist bump, with whom he shares an amicable relationship, having done fun challenges on the latter’s YouTube channel. “I think we’ll be OK,” Trump told reporters after the US’s bumpy start. “All great golfers.”

Looking back on that day, Ritthamel further shares, “He [Trump] was there. He had his golf ball shoes on. I would notice the golf shoes. It was the greatest thing.”

That was the beginning of the Ryder Cup, and what happened in the following two days is not hidden from anyone. The crowd went all in on bullying the Europeans, the majority of the burnt faced by Rory McIlroy. The talisman for Europe, as he was often called in many of the reports, McIlroy not only suffered the hate of the crowd with the F bombs thrown his way, but also the questionable behavior of Heather McMahan, the emcee of the tournament. Although she recently shared her side of the story as to what actually took place on the course.

But Ritthamel shared that players like Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose, too, were the victims of New York’s raunchiness. “I kind of felt bad for Justin and Tommy. I even expressed that to them after we finished. But Ben making his putt on seven, and  I think it was probably 60 ft, and then Rosi making a 40-footer on top like that kind of popped the seal and really got things going.” The European duo eventually won this Friday’s fourball match with a 1-up victory.

Saturdays and Sundays unsurprisingly got worse. With xenophobic and homophobic comments filling the greens, Shane Lowry was prompted to give back to the crowd, and American players like Justin Thomas and Cameron Young had to step in. But will it be right to say that this was a domino effect after Trump’s visit?

Donald Trump’s involvement with golf ever since he assumed his second term is very much out there. He has been actively trying to mediate between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Moreover, he was one of those few people who wanted Keegan Bradley to take on the role of playing captain for this year’s event, something Bradley chose not to.

And so whether his short visit to the Ryder Cup caused such chaos is debatable. Bradley says it’s the crowd’s ‘passion’ that drove them to indulge in such obscenity. But what matters is that Europe won in the end. And with that win, they did give a reply to Trump as well.

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Team Europe playfully taunts Donald Trump

Team Europe’s perseverance is one for the history books. Marking a historic win by defeating Team USA on their home turf (15-13), Luke Donald’s squad did not rest on crazy celebrations. One of them included a fan jab they took at President Donald Trump.

Soon after their win, Rory McIlroy and the rest of the team shot a cheeky message for Trump on the former’s phone. The video had Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, and Tommy Fleetwood hoisting the Ryder Cup trophy and chanting in unison, “Are you watching, Donald Trump?” The 30-second clip, shared by Ryder Cup Europe’s official page on X, quickly went viral.

Trump, whose love for golf is well-known, did not hold back from joining the fun. He reposted the video on his Truth Social with a reply, “Yes, I’m watching. Congratulations!” This fun exchange was able to cut through the partisan noise that otherwise marred the biennial event.