The expectations of the media and fans going into Ryder Cup 2025 were high. Europe’s stunning triumph in 2023, heightened nationalistic pride, the expected boisterous New York crowd, and team USA players being paid for appearing for the first time, were just some of the many themes dominating the headlines entering the three-day affair.
As often happens with major sporting events, twists and turns unfolded to shift the media narratives and coverage. Data Golf emerged as a big winner, securing considerable attention in news and social media for their ratings of potential pairings. Meanwhile, alcoholic beverage brands received scrutiny for claims about the role their products may have played in fan behavior.
Media coverage framed team Europe as a “team”, willing to fight for each other and their national pride. Meanwhile, team USA was seen as a group of talented individuals expected to feed off the boisterous New York crowd and be too strong regardless of their lack of unity or teamwork.
USA captain Keegan Bradley fed this narrative leading into the event with Golf Digest stating that he had “declared war on Europe”. The Telegraph further highlighted this with the headline “USA’s gratuitous 9/11 comparison has crossed a line even for the Ryder Cup” in the run up to the start.
Storylines emerged on and off the course
Team Europe dominated proceedings on the course for the first two days before the Americans nearly amounted an unprecedented comeback on the third and final day to cap off a thrilling tournament. Only 37 European players had ever been part of a Ryder Cup win away from home, and after Sunday’s proceedings, another 10 were added to the list.
Air Force One performed a flyover of the course around 11am on the first day, before President Donald Trump arrived at the first tee box joined by his eldest granddaughter, 18-year-old avid golfer Kai Trump. His arrival and the associated increased security cause many fans issues throughout the morning of the first day. His attention to Bryson DeChambeau was widely highlighted, with the pair having famously teamed up a year ago to “break a score of 50” resulting in over 16.5 million views on YouTube.
Data Golf wins by scrutinizing USA captain’s choices
Some of the first morning selections by Team USA captain Bradley were described as “atrocious” online, especially the selection of Harrison English and Colin Morikawa. The pair were picked for the morning foursomes, and Data Golf, a highly respected statistical golf data analytics company, used their analytics to rank every possible American foursome pairing that Bradley could select. Depending on which of the two teed off first and playing together, Morikawa and English were ranked either 130 or 132nd out of a possible 132 combinations. Harris teed off first resulting in it being the worst possible choice according to Data Golf. Surprisingly for the afternoon session, Bradley stuck to his guns and once again shunned the analytics pick, selecting the same matchup. They were again outplayed and lost.
Polarizing players and controversial behavior dominate coverage
The European pairing of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were the other pair dominating the headlines on day one. Rory’s is viewed within the US media as a polarising figure within the American golfing landscape, and this year saw him become only the sixth player ever to win all four major championships. Many social media users felt the crowd were trying to negatively influence his play and ugly scenes began to emerge on social media as they attempted to do so.
This was a theme that continued into day two as the situation was reported to have quickly escalated. There were multiple reports of media figures following the two players and reported on what they described as having “never encountered” on a golf course before. The chief golfing correspondent at i Paper followed McIlroy around the course and defined the abuse as “grotesque” and mentioned that the crowds included targeting his wife who was in attendance.
Reports later emerged that Heather McMahan, an American actress and comedian, initiated chants of “f*** you Rory” with the crowd whilst in her official capacity as course emcee. Media reported that she was “expected to be neutral” and warm up the crowd in leading supportive chants towards local players. It was later confirmed that McMahan had apologised and stepped down before the final day’s play.
The envelope rule captured social media attention
The final day of the event saw many online posts regarding clarity on whether Viktor Hovland would be able to play after pulling out on the afternoon of day two. He awoke Sunday unable to move his neck and made the decision to withdraw. This meant that the rarely used “envelope rule”, which has been around since 1979 had to be invoked. Defined by the BBC as “the captain’s agreement required each team captain submit the name of one player in a sealed envelope who wouldn’t play in the case of an injury to a golfer on the opposing team”.
Winners:
Team Europe
The contrast of their players not being paid versus the Americans receiving a fee set them up for a purist’s victory before the first ball was even teed off. It was reported that they had dominated the first two days in front of a hostile crowd, and this was seen as further vindicating the talk of this being a special group of players. They would also add to the “37 players” that had been so frequently highlighted across all European social media channels. That Sergio Garcia paid over £1 million in fines just for the opportunity to be selected for this team (due to him being penalised for leaving for the LIV golf tour), and was ultimately overlooked, was seen as a talking point for how the opportunity is viewed by European players.
Rory McIlroy
Deemed to have faced down diversity all weekend as he, and sadly his family, were at the forefront of what was widely described as some ugly scenes. McIlroy was quoted by Fox news as saying America is “the best country in the world” coming into the tournament, but this did little to abate the American fans targeting him throughout. He was captured reacting angrily at times but was able to perform on the course as he helped his team to victory. His media mentions during the tournament compared with the preceding three days leading up to it increased by roughly 325% according to our platform.
26/09/2025 – 28/09/2025 – 49.8 K results
23/09/2025 – 25/09/2025 – 11.7 K results
22/09/2025 – 28/09/2025
Data Golf
The results and pairings of team USA catapulted Data Golf into the spotlight. The data showed that they had more than a 2,050% increase in social media mentions compared to the preceding week, as shown in CARMA’s Insight platform. They became the go-to online reference for discussing Bradley’s selection of the Morikawa and English partnership.
22/09/2025 vs 28/09/2025 – 1.1 K results
15/09/2025 vs 21/09/2025 – 51 results
Losers:
Alcohol Sponsors – Michelob Ultra, Sugarland Shines, and Tito’s Handmade Vodka
Questioned online as possibly playing a key role in the behaviour of fans during the tournament, the pile on didn’t stop there as many fans pointed out what they thought were “horrendous” prices for the drinks on offer. This was felt to be in bad taste as the tickets were priced at levels, that many felt, ordinary people couldn’t afford, and further comparisons were made to those charged at The Master’s.
Keegan Bradley
Netflix’s Full Swing provided a behind the scenes look last year at Bradley not being selected for team USA for the previous Ryder Cup, and this pick was discussed within the media as his chance for redemption. Unfortunately, the tournament did not play out the way he envisioned, and he was deemed by many online to have made some “strange” picks. It was also discussed how many users felt he would’ve had made more impact playing, rather than the more passive role serving as captain (Media Needed).
Social media – Ryder Cup by the numbers
| Account | Social Media Platform | Number of Posts | Reach | Reach per mention | Engagement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 10 | 288M | 28.8M | 1.2M | |
| foxnews | 8 | 86M | 10.8M | 369.5K | |
| Dallasmavs* | 1 | 4.8M | 4.8M | 368.6K | |
| whitehouse | 4 | 39.3M | 9.8M | 297.3K | |
| therydercup | 36 | 9.2M | 254.6K | 289.1K | |
| sportsbible | 6 | 46.4M | 7.7M | 286.3K | |
| skysports | 11 | 144.6M | 13.1M | 229.5K | |
| Nick Sortor @nicksortor | X (formerly Twitter) | 12 | 14.4M | 1.2M | 218.3K |
| mclaren** | 4 | 64.5M | 16.1M | 213.6K | |
| golf_com | 23 | 17.7M | 770.4K | 207.6K |
*Dallas Mavericks posted a picture of their number one draft pick (and number one overall) Cooper Flagg meeting Michael Jordan at the Ryder Cup.
**Mclaren posted images of their drivers previously playing golf as they got into the swing of things, using hashtags like #RyderCupReady.
