Where Ryder Cup battle will be won and lost

The past five Ryder Cups have ended in resounding victories for the home side.

Will Bethpage be any different this week as the US look to win back the trophy that Europe so convincingly regained in Rome?

While the bookmakers have the home side as slight favourites, there are a host of reasons why Europe are being tipped to win away for the first time since 2012.

Fast starts, blocking out the noise, experience and the Trump effect are among the key issues that will decide the outcome of this Ryder Cup, which gets under way on Friday.

2025 Ryder Cup

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In the immediate aftermath of victory in Rome, Rory McIlroy called winning an away match "one of the toughest things to do in golf".

On Thursday, he upped the ante a little more by saying that Europe have the chance this week to "go down as one of greatest Ryder Cup teams in history".

And Friday's opening session is likely to be pivotal in deciding the eventual winner.

In each of the past five events the overall victors have trounced the visitors in the first-day foursomes. Europe dropped only half a point out of 12 in these sequences in the triumphs of 2014, 2018 and 2023.

At Whistling Straits four years ago the US took the opening foursomes 3-1 en route to a record 19-9 victory. In 2016 they won the Friday foursomes session 4-0 at Hazeltine and Europe never truly recovered.

In the most recent away matches of 2016 and 2021, Europe trail 11½-4½ in foursomes. It feels as though they have to reverse this trend to have any chance this week.

It is the tone-setter for the three days of competition.

A quick start is also vital because it could determine whether New York's notoriously boisterous fans turn Bethpage into a "bear pit" from the playground it has been so far.

The build-up has been dominated by talk of how the home fans will treat the away players.

American Collin Morikawa said the atmosphere has been "tame" during the practice days, with lots of autograph-hunting kids admitted for free. He is hoping for "absolute chaos" come Friday.

Keeping the fans subdued will be high on Europe's agenda.

The US won by 10 points in 2021's 'walloping in Wisconsin', with the home supporters celebrating victory as early as midway through the second of the three day's play, emboldened by Justin Thomas' beer-swilling, can-throwing antics on the first tee.

Last time out, the stands that towered over the first tee in Rome proved too intimidating for the American players. They failed to win the opening hole in any of the first dozen matches as Europe romped to an early lead they wouldn't relinquish.

As at Whistling Straits four years ago, the visitors have been on a charm offensive, signing thousands of autographs and posing for selfies but they know the noise will be turned up come game day.

European captain Luke Donald dished out virtual reality headsets, which could be programmed with all manner of abuse, to his players. A gimmick perhaps but if it provides a marginal gain for one player it will have been deemed worth it.

The Europeans have all talked down the impact of the crowd, Robert MacIntyre alluded to controlling the controllables and in a mantra oft repeated by his team-mates, simply said "it's my job to play good golf".

Justin Rose knows the importance of getting European blue on the board, having been a key member of the last team to win away in 2012 - the famed 'Miracle at Medinah' when Europe recovered from 10-4 down late on the Saturday, to win 14.5-13.5.

"As soon as we were able to flip the script, the crowd did change, they did go quiet," he told BBC Sport.

"They didn't like it and that's going to be our goal, to pacify the crowd."

Luke Donald does not lose Ryder Cups. As a player, he played four, won four. As a captain, led one, won one.

The experience of winning in Rome has laid the perfect foundation for this week. His build-up has appeared calm, helped by having the benefit of a settled team, with just one new face among his dozen in Rasmus Hojgaard replacing his twin brother Nicolai from Rome.

And he has been on script with his messaging here in New York, delivering his thoughts in an assured manner, with perhaps just one sly dig at the Americans being paid for the first time at a Ryder Cup during his opening ceremony speech.

His opposing number has had a more cluttered countdown. A little more than a year ago Keegan Bradley admitted he was as surprised as anyone when he was asked to lead the side in the wake of Tiger Woods turning down the captaincy.

Most of the following 12 months was spent debating whether he would select himself as the first player-captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Eventually sense prevailed and Bradley, who finished 11th on the US qualifying list, opted to focus solely on the leadership role.

But he then fumbled his opening ceremony speech on Wednesday. "I was 13 years old, perched on my dad's shoulders, watching Justin Rose's miracle putt drop on 17," he said, intending to refer to Justin Leonard's infamous putt at 1999's 'Battle of Brookline' and the ensuing controversial celebrations, despite Jose Maria Olazabal having a chance to halve the hole.

A sign of nerves?

Rory McIlroy was not going to miss an open goal, telling BBC Sport on Wednesday that when they returned to the team room after the opening ceremony "we got Justin Rose to apologise to Jose Maria for running all over his line at Brookline".

Europe certainly have the advantage in terms of playing experience, with 32 appearances between their dozen, compared with 15 for the US.

Naturally, Europe's players have won more points too, leading 68½-30 in that category.

McIlroy and Justin Rose are Europe's veterans and are the only two players to have won away - although Donald was also on that team at Medinah in 2012.

Between them they have amassed 33½ points from 13 combined appearances and both arrived in New York on the back of excellent years.

McIlroy became just the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam by winning the Masters in April, while Rose, beaten in a play-off at Augusta by his team-mate, won a PGA Tour title in August

Rose missed Whistling Straits but Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry are all returning for a second tilt on US soil.

Fleetwood said "all of us on that team didn't feel like we did ourselves justice" and it was a huge motivating factor for Rome.

But that works both ways and he pointed out the US players will "have been hurt from last time", adding "they'll want to win in front of their home crowd, and that's just as it should be".

Scottie Scheffler is clearly the standout player for the Americans. The runaway world number one, has had another outstanding year, with two more major titles - the US PGA and Open Championship - among his six victories.

However, Sir Nick Faldo is adamant that Scheffler will be the only player Europe will fear this week.

"Scottie will be a target because he's meant to win," Faldo told BBC Sport. "If you just get a half point against him, that's a victory. The rest don't scare me."

Scheffler went unbeaten as a rookie at Whistling Straits in 2021, but was reduced to tears in Rome after he and Brooks Koepka suffered a record 9&7 defeat at the hands of Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg - both of whom return this week.

Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay may have something to say about Faldo's comments though, given they have the best Ryder Cup records on the US team.

Thomas, who has eight points from 13 matches, was chief cheerleader in 2021, while Cantlay was the pantomime villain in Rome with 'cap-gate' and his caddie's spat with McIlroy. But he has won five of his eight matches.

Given he is a huge fan of the sport, it is not surprising that US President Donald Trump will be on site on Friday.

Fans, media and volunteers alike are all being urged to get to the course early because security will be super-tight and organisers are keen to avoid the disruption that was caused by Trump's visit to the US Open men's tennis final earlier this month.

"I hope he will inspire us to victory," said Bryson DeChambeau, who has played with Trump.

"I think he'll be a great force for us to get a lot of people on our side. It will be interesting and exciting to see how the crowd and everybody reacts.

"It's going to be an electric environment."