Justin Rose questions US Ryder Cup strategy with Bethpage looming: ‘Tried too hard’

Let the trash talk begin.

Justin Rose questioned the U.S. team’s Ryder Cup strategy ahead of the event later this month at Bethpage Black.

“I think the U.S. team have definitely bonded a lot more in recent years, and I think that they do have pockets of good friendships,” Rose said in comments picked up by Sky Sports on Tuesday that were made earlier in the month. “But I think the Americans have gotten a little bit … they think being a great team is about being best mates.

“I really don’t think that’s what being a great team is. Being a great team is having a kind of a real good theme and having an identity that has come from players before you, and you all buy into that vision. You don’t have to be having the greatest time in the world to do that. Although, inevitably, we do have a great time doing that. I think America have tried too hard to become a team, whereas Europe is a bit more natural and organic, and I think it comes from deeper roots in a way.”

The 45-year-old Englishman spends a majority of his playing season on the PGA Tour and alongside the Americans he will be competing against at Bethpage.

Much has been made about the camaraderie the European squad has since their dismantling of the US in Rome two years ago.

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There were many theories as to why things went so wrong in Italy.

Zach Johnson’s captains choices were dissected as was the team’s scheduling with five weeks off between the end of the PGA Tour season and the Ryder Cup.

The decision to go with Keegan Bradley as captain this year was widely celebrated, and 10 of the 12 members of the team played in the Procore Championship last week with Scottie Scheffler claiming the title.

(Bryson DeChambeau is banned from PGA Tour events after he bolted for LIV Golf and Xander Schauffele missed the event after his wife recently gave birth to their first child.)

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Addressing those concerns and the advantage of playing on home soil in what is expected to be a raucous New York crowd could turn the tables for the U.S., which has only claimed two of the past seven victories in the biannual showdown.

Rose and his European compatriots descended on Bethpage Black on Monday for a practice round, though it is impossible to replicate what the conditions will be like in front of an estimated 50,000 fans.

“I think we’ve been talking about the Ryder Cup in Bethpage probably for 10 years, the anticipation of it, what it’s going to be like, how intense it’s going to be,” Rose, who has been on six Ryder Cup teams, said.

“New Yorkers are crazy, and I think they become sort of caricatures of themselves. I think they feel like they have to live up to that reputation. So, fully expect absolute chaos out there. So, we’ll see, but I’m expecting that too. I really don’t know, my point is I actually don’t know what to expect, but I think we have to make a mental commitment.

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“I’m not going in unprepared by saying I don’t know what to expect. I’m going in saying, ‘I don’t know what to expect, but I’m willing to commit to not rising to anything, not taking the bait, willing to just accept and absorb and let things roll off your back’. You need that resilience. I think that’s what we’re accepting, that you’re going to need resilience that week, 100 percent. But who knows what it’s actually going to be like in person. It’s going to be wild.”