Peter Casey-Imagn Images
Team USA has had a couple of months to reflect on its Ryder Cup loss to Europe at Bethpage Black while trying to figure out what went wrong. Justin Thomas recently injected some new life into the discourse surrounding the speed of the greens at the tournament, and his comments led to a very spicy response from a jilted member of the crew who tended to the course.
America was hoping to benefit from home-course advantage when the Ryder Cup headed to Bethpage Black at the end of September. Unfortunately, the guys representing the stars and stripes were unable to dig themselves out of the massive hole they ended up in before staging a dramatic comeback that fell just short on the final day of play.
There was plenty of blame to go around, and Keegan Bradley shouldered the bulk of it as the captain of the losing squad. He admitted he missed the mark when it came to deciding the course setup that ultimately failed to hobble the Europeans, but he was also one of a handful of Americans who suggested the greens were not trimmed to the length they’d requested.
Justin Thomas revisited that claim during a recent interview where he implied members of the grounds crew pushed back against an attempt to correct the issue, and it’s safe to say one of those employees is not thrilled with being on the receiving end of those accusations.
A greenskeeper at Bethpage Black clapped back at Justin Thomas while throwing some shade at Keegan Bradley over the Ryder Cup
Thomas said Team USA wanted the greens at the Ryder Cup to register at 13 on the Stimpmeter (Jim Furyk said the number was a slightly quicker 12.5), and he noted every American who putted on them felt like they were rolling much slower than they should have while claiming the greenskeepers at Bethpage insisted nothing was amiss.
On Tuesday, Rick Moe, a golfer who has amassed a sizeable following on social media during his quest to play the Top 100 courses in America and on the planet, shared some comments from an unidentified member of that grounds crew, and they did not pull any punches while sharing their side of the story.
The unnamed “Bethpage turf staffer” not only insisted the greens were mowed to the requested length but said there was no way anyone could have argued with Bradley because there “was ZERO conversation between the captains and the grounds crew” once they arrived for the Ryder Cup.
🚨 Exclusive 🚨
A Bethpage Turf Staffer who worked the Ryder Cup responds to Justin Thomas:
JT came out swinging recently putting some blame on the turf staff for the Team USA Ryder Cup loss, saying the greens weren’t at the requested speeds.
The third point hits hard.
Here… pic.twitter.com/VJfqAwdiiK
— Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) December 2, 2025
They capped things off by accusing Thomas of continuing to make excuses for the loss while criticizing him and the rest of the team for failing to adequately prepare for the competition.
At this point, I’d be surprised to see any member of that team willingly wade back into this particular fray, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.