Justin Thomas reveals ‘fight’ with Ryder Cup ground staff over European advantage

Justin Thomas has revealed that the U.S Ryder Cup team ‘fought with’ staff at Bethpage Black over the slow speed of the greens.

The two-time major winner is currently sidelined after undergoing back surgery last month but was able to lift the lid on a tumultuous Ryder Cup weekend in September.

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Europe won the Ryder Cup away from home for the first time in 13 years, claiming a 15-13 victory.

USA closed the gap on the final day to make the final score look a little more respectable after Europe had raced into a commanding lead on Friday and Saturday.

And the blistering start by Luke Donald’s team was helped by USA complaints that the greens were far slower than captain Keegan Bradley had wanted them to be.

That led to Team USA clashing with staff at the New York venue in their quest to make the greens faster.

What were Team USA’s gripes?

The concerns started with Bethpage Black’s rough being cut short.

The rough was Bradley’s choice with a collective decision made based on the idea that a shorter rough would benefit the long-hitting USA team.

But it proved to be the opposite with Bradley later claiming it was a mistake.

Meanwhile, Team USA wanted the green speeds to resemble that of the PGA Tour which would have given Bradley’s team a putting advantage.

The stats show Europe have always fared better on slower greens – a theory which was proven true over the first two days – as the Americans were questioned for throwing away their home advantage.

Tensions flared

But it quickly became apparent that the greens were much slower than expected, something the Bethpage Black crew members disagreed with leading to tension between the two parties.

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“I don’t really understand that. I don’t know why [the greens] weren’t at all what Keegan [Bradley] had asked for,” Thomas told the No Laying Up podcast.

“I mean, he had been pretty clear of asking for a certain speed and wanting them fast enough.

“I watched them argue with us that they were 13s [on the Stimpmeter]. It’s like, ‘Guys, we play golf every week, like, look on TV at how many guys are leaving putts short.

“Nobody is getting … You can’t have a putt, roll, three feet, four feet past the hole. Like these greens are slow, speed them up.

“It was just bizarre because that’s not something you would expect at a home Ryder Cup. And again, that’s not an excuse, [the European players] had to adjust to them just as much as we did.

“That’s kind of a fun advantage you generally have [as a home Ryder Cup team] is being able to do that a little bit, and it was just so frustrating that we were being fought with and argued with on the speed of the greens that we asked for. So that was bizarre.”

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Bradley himself was left stunned after the first day’s play claiming he was witnessing something abnormal compared to previous visits to the venue.

“I’ve never seen Bethpage greens play this soft ever,” Bradley said. “Even when we’ve played here and it’s rained, this is something that I’ve never seen. Chip shots are spinning backwards.”

The crew were able to speed up the greens by the start of Sunday’s play which saw Team USA stage an incredible fightback although it ended up being in vain.