The Measured Golf Podcast

Inside Bethpage: Spectacle, Shame, and Sublime Golf

• Michael Dutro, PGA • Season 6 • Episode 6

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The roars at Bethpage were real—but so was the unease. I was on the ground for the 2025 Ryder Cup, and what I witnessed was a jarring split-screen: world-class golf from both teams and a fan atmosphere that too often went from passion to hostility. Europe executed in foursomes and four-ball with poise and precision, while the U.S. mounted a gutsy Sunday charge that turned the final day into must-watch drama. From JT’s magic to Rose vs. Cam Young on 18, the shots were worthy of the stage. The question is whether the stage—and the crowd culture around it—honored the game they showcased.

We talk through how the event tipped toward spectacle: chants that crossed lines, personal attacks aimed at players and families, and a security presence that told its own story. I unpack why the TV narrative missed how tense it felt on the course, why this wasn’t just “New York energy,” and how operating decisions—from choosing an MC to tolerating provocation—shaped behavior. Then we get practical. Bethpage’s fallaway surrounds erased sightlines, corporate structures walled off views, movement clogged in choke points, and basic amenities lagged. If the goal is to grow the game, pricing out families while delivering a poor live experience is a losing play.

We also tackle the pay debate head-on. These are professionals, their allocations go to charity, and comparing them to Olympian amateurs is a category mistake. Respect the craft, reward the performance, and focus on reforming fan culture rather than scapegoating players. Finally, I lay out fixes: choose venues with natural viewing berms (consider anchor sites), reduce corporate obstruction, enforce a clear code of conduct with real ejections, and channel crowd energy into supporting your team rather than demeaning the other. The rivalry is the point; contempt is not.

If you care about golf’s future—and love the Ryder Cup at its best—listen, share, and tell us what you’d change. Subscribe, leave a review, and join the conversation so we can push this event back toward the standard the players set.

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Measured Golf Podcast, where you, the listeners, sit down and join me, Michael, and we discuss all things golf. And this week we are taking a look back on what was the 2025 edition of the Ryder Cup. And as a card-carrying PGA member, uh, fortunately I was able to be there in New York to witness all of the action firsthand. And before we get into any of the kind of things we're going to discuss, you know, what a what an amazing Sunday, right? Um, as somebody who was maybe pulling for the European squad, uh, seeing the comeback that the Americans mounted uh was really, really cool because obviously we want to have compelling golf. We want to have something that makes us tune in and makes us feel uh like something magic is gonna happen. And the Americans, quite frankly, almost pulled it off after more or less being boat raced uh during the first two days. So uh really cool, fun to be there on Sunday for sure. And they made a believer out of me. And that to be honest, uh it was quite warm, so we were already sweating, but the pressure that the Americans put on the European squad uh added to the sweating quite a bit. So really a fun day, really cool to be there. Um, this is my third Ryder Cup that I've attended. Uh, I was at the Ryder Cup in the, I'm sorry, I was at the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, the previous edition here, stateside. And then I was also at the Ryder Cup quite a bit earlier in my career when it was hosted at Valhalla and the state of Kentucky. So third Ryder Cup, uh, you kind of you kind of feel like you know what to expect a little bit, but obviously the entire golf world has kind of had this circled for the last couple of years since Rome. And we knew that the New York fans, the Northeastern fans, were were really going to show up and were going to do what they do, you know. I mean, I know it's Philly, not New York, uh, but not terribly far away. And we did see a lot of people there from Philly, but they've been known to boo Santa Claus at football games. So if you didn't think that they were going to, you know, go after the players and boo the players, uh, I don't really know what you were expecting. So, you know, I think that it was very, very interesting to see the way things played out a bit. And one thing that was really interesting to me was, you know, I'm all for being allowed as a ticket holder to a major sporting event to be allowed to voice your opinions on things. Um, I've been to several football games, uh, I've booed calls that I think are bad, I've cheered calls that I think are good, and I've celebrated when our team scores a touchdown or whatever the case may be, whatever the sporting event may be. But the thing that I really didn't understand about this particular Ryder Cup was there really wasn't a lot of cheering going on for the American team, and it was more of a just attack on the other team. And that's a little disconcerting because I think a lot of people were there to try to inject themselves into the storyline, and I don't understand how that behavior uh is tolerated at a golf event. And as we all saw, you know, it obviously was worse earlier in the week. It got better as the week went, but there was still a lot of things going on at the Ryder Cup that, you know, most certainly crossed the line. Um, personal attacks, things being said to wives, things being said to coaches, things being said um to just about anybody who wasn't wearing the red, white, and blue. And once again, I'm all for good-natured ribbing. I'm all for, you know, making, you know, kind of some fun songs up and going that route. But when it's when it's not about golf and we're, you know, questioning things that are of a personal subject matter, and we're saying things quite frankly that are offensive, and you know, making fun making fun and making inaccurate statements about sexuality, and you know, bringing up, you know, some things that have happened with Rory uh in the not so distant future, uh, things that have happened with his wife. You know, that's that's not golf anymore. That's that's just trying to once again inject yourself into the story. And as somebody who was out in the crowds the whole week, um, I can flat out tell you that I heard things that were completely uncalled for, completely embarrassing, and 100% not okay. Not only was it not okay for the Ryder Cup, but also just not okay for public behavior. And in my opinion, uh, and this is my opinion, but I believe that the PGA of America got exactly what they wanted. Um, I don't understand the thinking, I don't understand the logic, um, other than the fact that I know that nothing creates more attention and nothing creates more views and nothing gets more clicks than negative behavior. Uh, and if you don't believe me, you open the news feed on your app, and I promise you you're not getting to a positive story for at least five minutes of scrolling. So, in my opinion, you know, when you look at what went on and what transpired, including having Heather McMahon uh as an MC, you know, I don't know. A, I'm surprised that anybody from the PGA of America knows who Heather McMahon is. And two, if they knew who she was and they knew her kind of comedy, which is totally fine in a comedic setting, then you would kind of realize that this maybe isn't the person that we want representing us, the PGA members on the first T. And for her to lead a chant that obviously was vulgar towards Rory and kind of stoke the crowd, it very much felt like this was orchestrated. Um, it felt like the PGA of America wanted to get that press, wanted to get those clicks, and really wanted to create a hostile environment. And I just don't understand why, because you don't need it. The level of golf that we were treated to for three straight days, and and look, you can blast the course setup all you want, and and that's totally fine because I honestly think you could go out there next week and play a harder Beth Page Black than what those guys played. But with that being said, the level of golf that we saw was just unbelievable. I actually happened uh to be standing right there on the green when JT holted out on Sunday, and I mean, just magic, right? Um, really cool stuff. And the level of play that the Europeans demonstrated was just, you know, almost unseen before. So I thought that there was a lot of things there to celebrate. I think for golf fans, there was a lot to kind of bite your teeth into. And I don't think that we needed to try to create this environment that quite frankly was was unbecoming and unprofessional, and quite frankly, has nothing to do with golf. I uh I put a story up on my social media during the event, uh, sharing a photo of one of the massive uh virtual scoreboards they have out there, and you know, putting up spectator etiquette rules and you know, warning the crowd. And I put a note that I didn't realize that the PGA had been sold to Vince McMahon. And for those of you who maybe are a little younger listening to this, Vince McMahon was the previous owner of the WWE, maybe the WWF going back a little farther. Um, but it felt like a wrestling event. It it had all the ear markings of it, and honestly, it felt just like that. And the crowd really did not respond well to getting embarrassed the first two days, and that's what it was. It was an embarrassing kind of performance uh that the American team kind of felt like they had put up. But when you dig in and you look and you see how the Americans played, and then you compare it to the Europeans, they just simply got outplayed. Um, so once again, the level of the golf was really high. I would argue that Team Europe was more prepared. I would argue that Team Europe is better at the first two formats, and it it seems to go this way most Ryder Cup years. And if you look at the paper, we should be winning. If you look at the players we have in their world rankings, we should be winning. If you look at the pairings, we feel like we should be winning. But when it comes to foursums and four ball, the Americans just don't have a lot of experience in those formats, and it shows they have a very difficult time playing those formats, and it's not because it's a format that requires a completely different way of thinking, but the matchups are very important, who you put with who is very important, and then being able to play a style that is going to be cohesive with your partner is you know paramount. So when it comes to the singles, you know, it's it's kind of always the same story. The Americans got a lot of ground to cover, and I'll be danged if they didn't cover a whole lot of ground on Sunday because they did everything they could to get back into the Ryder Cup and potentially win it. So my hats off to both teams, uh, with a special hats off to the European team. I'm sure that you know a lot of the players on the European team probably really relish this one because they had to dig deep, they had to endure a lot of things, and you know, anytime you go through that kind of struggle, it really does make the victory taste that much sweeter. So I'm sure the Euros had a heck of a celebration. I think I saw something where maybe they had a bar tab of about a quarter million. Uh, I'm sure Shane did about half of that on his own, uh, and rightly so. Because, you know, the cool thing was is when we were at Whistling Straits, it had already been won. The U.S. obviously dominated that that uh edition of the Ryder Cup, and the singles are still out on the course, and you know, they're playing for their personal record. And we saw Shane Lowry on 18 at whistling make about an 18-footer to win, and just one of the coolest moments ever because you could see how much that meant to Shane, even in defeat for the team, it still had just a huge amount of emotional weight to it for Shane. And Shane Lowry is kind of one of those guys who, you know, has always kind of been the Robin to Rory's Batman and kind of the enforcer. And we remember him being, you know, holding Rory back in the parking lot in Rome, and we remember all these moments with those two together. But for Shane to have the opportunity to, in his words, do the coolest thing he's ever done and make that putt on 18 to secure, or I'm sorry, to retain the Ryder Cup, really amazing stuff, really cool, um, awesome, just absolutely spectacular for him. Couldn't be happier for Shane, couldn't be happier for Rory, and you know, I just it's really hard to wrap my head around what happened to Rory at this Ryder Cup. I I spend a fair amount of time around tour players, and I have been around Mr. McElroy quite a bit, and I am very much on the record with saying that Rory is not one of my favorite players of all time. He's not. Uh, I respect Rory a great deal. I think Rory's a great player, and I'm very happy that Rory has had the year that he has had and the success that he has had. And even though I am not personally the biggest Rory McElroy fan, one thing that I can tell you is I have never, and I do mean never, seen Rory McElroy miss a child at a golf tournament. He has always been one of the most generous people with his time, with his autographs. And when it comes to the kids, Rory is spectacular. And he is truly one of the game's greatest ambassadors because he has a global reach and he's carried it with class. And to kind of go off of Paul Azinger's comments, I don't love seeing Rory dropping F-bombs on the golf course. I would agree with Mr. Azinger about that. I don't think that Rory is the kind of guy that normally does that sort of thing. But I think in this particular situation, it was way more about the things that were said than the words that were used. And you can use profanity. A lot of people do. I typically speak with profanity myself, but try not to on the podcast just because I'm always fearful that there's young people listening, and I don't want to um to condone that kind of language because I feel like we we should always try to find a better word. Um, but at the same time, you know, I just don't understand the crowd going against him the way it did. And, you know, I've been to a lot of events that aren't a Ryder Cup, and Rory is a fan favorite, and Rory takes care of the kids, and Rory is this great statesman and spokesman for the game of golf. So I'm just a little amiss as to why the vehement anger towards Rory. And, you know, something that was very clear to me during the event was through the modern age of technology, we were actually able to watch the Ryder Cup coverage on our phone while we were there live, which was very, very nice because it was very difficult to see anything on the golf course. Um, so that gave us the ability to kind of listen in on what they were saying. And I'll be honest with you, there were several times where myself and the people with me were just flabbergasted at the fact that what was being reported on TV was not what was happening in reality. And I don't know if there was a memo that came down, I don't know if there was talking points that were agreed upon, but it was way worse than what the TV let on. And to be perfectly honest with you, they brought out 40 state troopers, 40, to protect Shane and Rory from the crowd. They had to bring actual police officers, not security uh from the event, but actual police officers, because, in my opinion, they felt that they were going to lose that crowd. And as an attendee and as someone on the grounds, it felt unsafe. And that is a problem. We are at a golf tournament, at a golf course, a very revered golf course, as a matter of fact, the people's golf course. And for the crowd to feel unsafe at a golf event, where are we at as a society? I mean, this is just unbelievable. So, you know, I had, you know, my strength and conditioning coach with me, I had my business partner with me, both are large gentlemen. And honestly, we went to our hospitality tent and kind of stayed there on Friday because the crowd, quite frankly, felt unsafe. And for the prices that they're charging for these tickets, you know, there's there's there's young people there, there are women there. And for this kind of behavior to go on, it only makes us look worse. It doesn't make golf look noble, it doesn't make golf look like a gentleman's game, it makes golf look like a professional wrestling event. And I'll be 100% honest. I have been a PGA class A member elected in 2012, and I've never been more embarrassed. I've I I honestly I felt so much shame coming out of this because it doesn't reflect who we are as a society, it doesn't reflect who we are as an organization, the PGA of America, and it quite frankly just makes the Europeans hate Americans more. And I don't know where we're going. I really don't. Um, I'm concerned that the Ryder Cup is more interested in trying to become a trend than it is trying to live up to the history and the greatness of the event. So very concerning. Um just not a good look for the PGA of America. The course setup was blundered terribly, the pairings were blundered terribly, you know, the indecision with Keegan was not handled well. Uh, there was just a lot of mistakes that were made. And then, you know, there was there was an amaz like the thing is, is as many things as I just said, the event was still great. But the thing that's really concerning is that I and the reason, by the way, that I wanted to wait a little bit um after the Ryder Cup to do this podcast was because I kind of wanted to see what came out, and there was one thing that I was really interested in, and I was interested in seeing what the viewer numbers were for TV coverage on Sunday. And if you haven't seen that number, it's a little bit startling because it is the least viewed Sunday at a Ryder Cup since 2025. I'm sorry, in 25 years, excuse me. And you can say, well, the Americans weren't in it, and it looked like it was going to be a boat race, and you can say all of those things, but in actuality, what I believe is that the golf fans just didn't want it, didn't want to have any part of it, didn't recognize it, didn't see it as a golf event, and quite frankly, were turned off by it. And you can talk about the money the players were paid. I think that's complete nonsense. You can talk about all these different kinds of things that go into it, but I think generally, you know, we as a golfing community have a real problem on our hands. And the problem that we have on our hands is that the golf courses are overrun with tailgators waiting to go to a football game. And they drive their buggy and they get blackout drunk. It doesn't matter what you charge for alcohol at one of these events, everybody's drunk, and they turn it into an MMA event. And I don't know what we're doing. The handicaps are soaring, the pace of play is worse, the ball marks are plentiful, uh, bunkers aren't being raked. Like we're not actually honoring the game of golf anymore. And it's all about the boom boxes on the golf carts, transfusions in the drink holders, and playing the back tees and claiming that you made a six when in actuality you made a nine. Um so I've talked about this before, but it really felt like there were a lot of people at this event who weren't there for golf. It felt like they were there to try to go viral. And they say all is fair in love and war. I think we need to update that. All is fair and love and trying to go viral. And that's where I think a lot of the crowd was. And quite honestly, I think that we as a golfing community are going to have to deal with this one way or another on our own and start kind of self-policing and self-enforcing a bit of this because the leadership just isn't there. Um, it just isn't. And you can say what you want to say, um, but the remarks that the president of the PGA, Don Ray, made uh at the award ceremony, and the comments he made afterwards in the press were quite frankly just disingenuous. And for him to pass the buck, and for him to say that Rory understands, and for him to say that the same thing happened in Rome, those are not true statements. They're not. Um, I don't believe them. I'm not going to believe them. Um, I really find it appalling that the buck would get passed because Don Ray represents me and represents the PGA of America. And we all owe a huge apology to Rory, to the entire European team, and especially, especially to the wives that were there. There is no reason to ever bring up somebody's wife. That is a line you do not cross. Um, if somebody was to say some of those things about my wife, I'm in a fist fight. And I'm not one of those people who condones, you know, fist fights and violence. But at the same time, I would never let somebody talk about my wife that way. And for Erica to stand there and take it, as well as taking a beer can to the head, um, you know, my hat's off to her, the the fortitude that she showed, the class that she showed. And, you know, I thought that that was really interesting. The the European team in general really wouldn't take the bait during the week with what's going on with the crowd. And they they kept it very business-like. And I think that that really shows how prepared they were for what was about to unfold. But, you know, the the opportunity was there, you know, here today, yesterday, the day before, the opportunity was there for us as an organization, us as a community to get out in front of this. And what we saw is that basically the buck got passed. And now I just got this a few minutes ago. I was kind of hem-hawned back and forth about whether I was even either, excuse me, whether I was even going to do this podcast or not. But I just got an email. Um, as a matter of fact, I'm just gonna read it. Um, so I normally don't read on the podcast, but I apologize. But I think it's important because this is the email that I got today at 2.06 p.m. uh from the PGA of America. And the title is a message from President Don Ray Jr. regarding the Ryder Cup. And here is the email as I'm going to read it uh word for word. Michael, coming out of the week at Beth Page Black, I wanted to take a moment to reflect with you what reflect with you on the 45th Ryder Cup. Let me begin with what we must own. While the competition was spirited, especially with the U.S. team's rally on Sunday afternoon, some fan behavior clearly crossed the line. It was disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative of who we are as the PGA of America or as PGA of America golf professionals. We condemn that behavior unequivocally. What makes our sport great is that we own our bogeys. We certainly own this one. Our CEO, Derek Sprague, has apologized on our behalf to Erica and Rory McRoy and to everyone with Ryder Cup Europe. I would also like to personally apologize to them and all of you for not representing our association in the best light with some of my comments in the media during the event. While it wasn't my intention, some of my comments were seen in a negative light which reflects poorly on not only myself but also on the PGA of America, and I truly apologize. Moving forward, we will continue to promote passionate and respectful support for both teams and will evaluate ways to more quickly identify and remove those few who discredit the Ryder Cup and the game of golf through personal or derogatory remarks. Now, let's talk about the Birdies because there were many. Thousands of our PGA of America members and their guests were able to attend as part of their member benefits. Global reach of the PGA of America and our programs across broadcast and digital, and for the first time, a sitting president of the United States in attendance. Regardless of political affiliation, the President's presence underscored the significance of the Ryder Cup to both our sport and our nation. I'm especially grateful to our staff who work closely with the U.S. Secret Service and White House to navigate a host of complex logistics and ensure the visit was seamless with minimal disruption to the fan experience. Congratulations are also in order to Captain Luke Donald and the European team on their victory. Well played and well earned. To Captain Keegan Bradley and the U.S. team, your grit and Sunday rally were inspiring. And to our PGA of America Championship staff, many of whom are your fellow PGA of America golf professionals, I am grateful for your professionalism, care, and tireless commitment. A special thanks as well to the Metropolitan PGA section, which served as an incredibly gracious host, going above and beyond throughout the week. As I shared last week, the golfer atop the Ryder Cup trophy is Abe Mitchell, a PGA professional, Great Britain and Ireland, who taught Samuel Ryder how to play. Their bond as coach and student is a powerful reminder of the role we play in shaping lives through this game. Let's take that power and use it for good as we continue to help grow the game because we love this game and we hope the people who love this game. God bless, and as always, Go USA. Sincerely, Don Ray Jr., PGA president. And that is the conclusion of the email that I received today at 206. And honestly, I don't think this is any better. Like there's a lot of, you know, minimizing. There's Derek Sprague apologizing to Rory and Erica. I'm pretty sure Rory's not going to read this email and get his apology. Um, you know, talking about how having it and look, uh take politics out of it. I know that this country is very divided right now. I'm not going to go into that. It is amazingly cool to have a sitting president at the Ryder Cup. Okay. Once again, politics, not there. But it is amazingly cool to have a sitting president at a rider cup. It does show the importance of the event and the global scale of the event. However, to say that it was smooth and there wasn't disruption, that's a lie. Because there were several people who could not get to the Ryder Cup. There were people walking from the train station because the train couldn't get them there. Don't tell me that there was limit limited disruption. I have yet to see a golf course set up worse for the fans. I have yet to see a golf course set up worse for the fans. That is a fact. I have never seen so many corporate tents in my life. And they are corporate. They are not for the fan that paid$750 to be there. They are not for the PGA professional. They are for the corporations. And you can call these golf tournaments if you like, but they have morphed into these corporate events. And the person who is considered last is the fan. Now, I, once again, am a PGA member and did not have to pay for my ticket or for one guest ticket. I was able to get in for free. Okay? I don't want to make any bones about that. I'm very appreciative as a PGA member that they make that available to us. I would not be able to afford to go to the Ryder Cup should I have to pay. Now, with that said, I did pay for a ticket to go to the Ryder Cup for my business partner. He I had to buy a ticket for him. So I am a paying customer as well. So with that being said, the venue, uh the way the venue was set up and the availability for fans to get around and see the golf course was terrible. And it there were choke points, there was nowhere to go, there were dead ends, it was just quite frankly bad. And the thing that's really disheartening to me is that there are so many people at this event who simply don't get to see anything that they paid for because it was so, and this is true of every Ryder Cup. This isn't a unique situation. But when you have four groups on the golf course and you have 25 to 50,000 people on the golf course, it's going to be tough to see anything because it's going to be 40 deep on every hole where there's action going on. But the idea that you could get ahead, you could get, you know, trail behind, whatever, there was none of that to be had. And then the other issue, and this is something that really can't be done anything with, but around the holes, everything kind of falls away. It's the complete opposite of what whistling straits was to where everything's built up around the holes. So you have vantage points. But where everything fell away from the hole, you could maybe be three or four people behind and still not see a thing. I'm sorry, three or four people behind the rope and still not see a thing. So I would really love to see them do. Um an exit survey on this event. I know they didn't, but I would love to see an exit survey and see what the fan experience was like. Because, quite honestly, like I felt bad for my business partner because the experience really wasn't very good. You're basically standing out in the sun and watching it on a video board with no audio, because once again, you can't really get anywhere. You can't see anything if you do get there. And then once again, uh on Friday in particular, the crowd just felt unsafe. Um, it really did. We actually went and stayed in our hospitality tent because it felt unsafe. So I just don't get it. And then, you know, the big thing that they keep talking about is well, you know, the food's free. The food you're paying$750 for a ticket. Like, I like a cheeseburger a day. Like, I I come on now. I and and let's be honest, the only reason they're making the food free is to deal with the line. Like, if they have to pay for the food, then the lines are horrendous everywhere, not just where the booze is. So I've I just find the whole thing very disingenuous. And I feel like we are leaning into this current, we as a society, we as a organization, the PJ of America, we as in Team USA, really are just kind of leaning into this gouging of the fan. And it concerns me because the golf fan is the one paying the price for everything. Greens fees are going up, equipment's going up, um, you know, tickets to events are going up. And the thing that's really sad is, and thank God this week, to be perfectly honest, but you don't see any kids at these events. You don't. You just don't. You don't see young people, you know, you don't see them at Augusta, you don't see them at the Ryder Cup, you don't see them at the majors. And the reason is is because the common family has been priced out of golf. And I don't know how we're growing the game. Uh, I I don't think that what we saw this week was we loved the game. Um, it didn't feel that way to me. And I'm I'm just really upset uh with how things transpired because it does reflect on me as a PGA member. Um, you know, I walked away Friday kind of telling the people I was with, you know, I I need to get away from this. Like I can't be part of this. And that's sad because 2012, when I was elected as a PGA member, is one of the proudest moments of my life. Um, but this is not us, this is not what we represent. Uh, it certainly isn't up to my standard. And I get it, maybe I have higher standards, but it's just not acceptable. And then to have people, you know, bash the players for the money, like, give me a break. Give me a break. You know, if if the PGA really needs a rider cup to stay financially, you know, solvable, let it let it burn. Let it burn. Give it up. Because it's been proven that the PGA does not know how to run a golf event. It's it's a fact. The the amount of urinals at the event was not enough. Uh by the afternoons, the urinals were completely full. I'm sorry, the porta potties were completely full. Uh it's gross, disgusting. They smell terrible. Um, I like they were out of toilet paper, you know. There's women at this event and there's no toilet paper. Are you kidding me? Like, are you actually kidding me? Like, what are we doing? We can't we can't have enough toilet paper, it costs too much? Like, this event generates hundreds of millions of dollars. That's what it does. And then we want the people allegedly that we're there to see and support and cheer, we want them to play for free so that everybody else can make money off of their back. What are we doing here? Like, I hope if that's your opinion, I hope you go to work this week for free. I do. I do. I hope you just go to work for free. And I don't want to hear, well, they're playing golf and they're million. That's it has nothing to do with it. Nothing. You probably listening right now have more money in your bank account than I do. You probably do. So should I expect you to do everything for me for free because you have more money than me? Absolutely not. Nor would I ever ask because I don't behave that way. And I get that for us, the golfing community at large, we play game as a way to relax. We play golf as a way maybe to escape what's going on in society. We play golf because we love this game, but they are taking advantage of that and they are not helping support the growth of the game because they're pricing us all out, and I just don't understand how we move forward from this. Because if I'm a European fan, I'm just waiting for Ardor Manor. Can't wait. Because I trust me, we were with a lot of Euros. If you saw my social media, we were adopted to the Lowry Army. Um, they've been telling me I'm Irish my whole life, so I just finally gave in and got adopted. But, you know, they're way more creative and they come up with way funnier stuff, and I sure would hate to see them get nasty and creative at the same time because I'm sure it's just crushing. But if if I'm a European fan, I'm kind of waiting for this to happen in two years to return the favor. But I'm very hopeful that this, you know, gets nipped in the bud. I'm hoping we get back to why golf uh means something to us. But I understand that we play it as a game because we love it, but at the same time, this is their profession. This is what they do for a living. And if you, whatever you do for a living, are good at it, you're going to be promoted. And when you get promoted, generally that comes with a raise, and you get paid more money for being good at what you do. And we just had the privilege of watching 24 of the best golfers in the world compete for three straight days. And the assumption that they shouldn't be paid for it is comical and ludicrous in almost every way of looking at it. I don't hear anybody complaining about, you know, the NFL guys. I don't hear any like, and don't here's okay, real quick. Everybody that I've gotten into this conversation with likes to bring up Olympians. Olympians are amateur athletes. Amateur. There is a definition to that word. It means they are unpaid. Golfers on the PGA tour, which is how they qualify for the Ryder Cup, are professional players, meaning that they play for money. And I am never going to ask them to play for free. By the way, a hundred percent of the money that they all made got donated to charity. So what's it matter? And the only reason that the European team does not pay its players is because, quite frankly, they don't have the money to do so. The the money is completely different in the professional golf scene here in the United States than it is over in Europe and across the world at large. It is. If you look at the money they play for over there versus here, if you look at the amount of money that's invested in the golf over there versus here, it's not even close. It's just not close. So the money conversation, I think, really is a bad look. Because if you're one of those people complaining about the money, I think you're jealous. That's what I think. And that's the only argument that I've seen anybody really have. Well, if it was me, well, it's not you, and nobody's gonna show up to watch a 20 handicap play golf. Nobody. So I hate to tell everybody, but no, you can't do what those guys do. And two, nobody's gonna show up to watch you even try. So it's not an apples to apples conversation, and it's just quite out, in my opinion, pure jealousy on behalf of the people who watch. And this is common in golf because golf is very unique because you can go play Beth Page Black, you can play the same course that these guys play, and because of that, we feel like we're doing the same things, but we're not. These guys are shooting, you know, Justin Rose is making eight birdies and 12 holes. Like, I don't think that's what we're doing. We're barely making pars, bogies, doubles out there. So it's just not the same thing. And so many people try to relate their personal golf experience to the professional, and it's not the same thing. It's just like playing high school football is not the same thing as playing college football, it's not the same thing, or even close to playing professional football. Everything levels up, and if you are good enough, if you have developed yourself, if you have prepared yourself to take those next steps, then you deserve to be paid based off your merit. And that's exactly what it is. And people don't like to hear that. I understand that this country right now is very divided. I understand right now that people are concerned. I understand that money is a very real topic for most Americans, but it doesn't enter this conversation. It doesn't. And golf, even though it has a lot of parallels to our society, they're not one and the same. And we can't try to make everything right in society by changing everything in golf. And that's just how I feel about it. So, you know, long story short, I would like, and they're never gonna hear this, but I would like to apologize to Team Europe, and I would like to apologize to the wives and the support staff that took the abuse, and there's no place for it, and I'm embarrassed. Like, I honestly embarrassed. Like, it's just no good. So that's my rant, I guess, on the Ryder Cup. Um, I'm sure there's a lot of people who are gonna listen to this who feel that I'm completely off base. That's totally fine. Um, agree to disagree. You know, I am not I've I've had the time to collect my thoughts and I've had the time to think about this and and kind of see the aftermath um of everything. But, you know, I'm pretty confident in what I'm saying and my opinions, and I feel strongly about them. So uh that's what makes the world great. We all we all get our say. So I'm sure there are people that disagree, but at the same time, uh I think we're in a current point in time in our society to where nobody's gonna agree on anything. So uh that's what makes doing these podcasts fun is getting to share a point of view and then sitting back and and having conversations with everybody about it. So um overall, though, you know, I don't want to take away from the actual event, um, which was great. The level of golf, great. Um, my personal favorite golfer of all time is Justin Rose. Always has been, always will be, classy guy, shows up any corner of the world, he can play. And, you know, to watch Rosie do his magic, you know, was really special. But, you know, the funny thing was, is you know, Rosie's on a heater, and we see the pairings come out for Sunday, and Rosie's got to go up against arguably the biggest buzzsaw team USA has to throw out there in the name of Cam Young. And I was looking at Aram, our strength and conditioning coach, and I was like, man, that's a tough draw for Rosie. And Rosie takes him to 18. And man, I'm geeked. I'm like, Rosie's gonna find a way. Rosie's gonna find a way. And you know, Rosie has the experience, Cam was a rookie. Uh, you know, I never in a million years thought that that would play out the way it did. But lo and behold, Justin misses the putt, Cam makes the putt, Cam wins the full point, and I'm just gutted, just absolutely gutted. I mean, absolutely upset. I will be 100% honest with you. Like it hurts deep down. If it felt like I lost, but I'm just absolutely gutted uh for Rosie. But you know, at the in the same moment, and I can pull Aaron in here and he'll tell you this is true. I said it. You just have to take your cap off to Cam. As much as it hurts, and as much as I wanted Rosie to win, you just have to take your cap off to better golf. And sometimes you just get beat. And I wish that the American fans would attempt to think more that way because yes, it hurts. Yes, you want to yell, yes, you want to, you know, get all angry, but this is golf. And if you're not willing to lose, then don't play because you're never gonna win every time. You're never gonna make every putt. You're never gonna like we chase this thing called perfection in golf, but perfection is unobtainable. And sometimes you can play great and still lose. And that's kind of the beautiful thing about golf. It teaches you that you don't always lose when you lose. Sometimes you win more when you lose, uh, depending on you know how honest you can be with yourself and and how much you can learn from the experience. So I wish that more golf fans felt that way and acted that way. And what I really hope moving forward is that instead of attacking the opposing team, I hope that we support our team. And I hope that we cheer so loud for our team that the other team is disrupted. I don't want to disrupt the other team by yelling during their turn, uh, not letting them play their shot, making personal and ludicrous attacks uh at them and their families. Like there's no place for that in golf. If you want to do that, become a Philly sports fan. There's a ton of those guys. Have a good time. Um I'm never going there. I don't want any part of that. I find it disgusting. And I think just human behavior should never stoop to that level. And I'm not talking about sport, I'm just talking about general human behavior. So, with that all being said, um, I hope you had an amazing Ryder Cup. Uh, I know a lot of people maybe weren't tuned in on Sunday. Obviously, the numbers show that. Um, but if you, if you, if you kind of didn't give it its due, if you didn't pay much attention, you know, I would highly recommend go back and watch it because the level of golf is just incredible. Uh the players really stepped up. Uh, Sunday is some of the best, you know, golf on TV you're gonna see, and just really compelling stuff that's very, very interesting uh to me and I think to a lot of people. But it was a great event. Weather couldn't have been better. We got the you know, the rain early in the week on Thursday. Uh, and unfortunately, the course just never never really came back from that. But once again, I I think that that was more a blunder uh on the PGA of America and Team USA than it was, you know, a little bit, you know, we got they got two inches of rain on Thursday, but it hadn't been raining much before then, and two inches of rain shouldn't do that much softening. So just unfortunate that we didn't necessarily have Beth Page be more part of the story. You know, I I think that when they pick these golf courses, um, you know, generally you want the golf course to be part of the story. Uh that's honestly the thing that makes Augusta so great. It's the same course every year, and we all know the holes and we know how they play. And, you know, the golf course is very much the story at Augusta National. And when they pick Beth Page Black, you know, we all have these connotations that come up in our mind of what to expect from Beth Page Black. Deep rough, force carries, blind shots, really difficult, you know, the sign, right? Like it's the they're showing the sign all the time for highly skilled players. And they they just quite frankly neutered the golf course. And you know, they could have played that event, you know, a lot of a lot of different places, and it would have played out about the same way because Beth Page just really was taken completely out of the storyline. So I hope in the future um they do something different with the course selection. You know, I'm a big fan of, I haven't seen anybody else say this, but I would be a big fan of similar to what they're doing with the anchor sites for the U.S. Open, I think we should have anchor sites for the for the Ryder Cup. And I looking back on whistling, excuse me, whistling straits, um, it was really a great venue for a Ryder Cup. And the reason being that, like I said, everything is so mounded around the holes and on the sides that it creates vantage points and and fans can go, and if they're willing to climb up these hills, you know, you can see the action, you can see what's going on, and it's not 50 deep. Um, and that makes it great. That makes it a fun experience when you can go out with the groups and you can watch and you can see the action unfold. I think that would be great. So I wish that the PGA of America, uh, Team USA, uh the USGA, whoever is all involved with this thing, I just wish that they would actually consider the fan experience. And these corporate tents, man, they gotta go because they're in the way of everybody. Um, you know, these people that are at these corporate events, you know, how many of them are there to see golf? And the answer is not all of them. And they're taking prime real estate and they're obstructing the view of the real fan. And to me, there's just no point in that. So I'm not saying that we don't we need the money from the corporations. I I totally understand that. But there's a way to do this to where the fan doesn't pay the price. And charging the fans$750 to come out and have a bad experience, that's not going to work very well. So I hope that they maybe consider some anchor sites, or maybe just even consider the fans when they're picking these golf courses, because it was clear to me and clear to most people that were there that the fan was the very last thing considered at this event. So um, yeah, I think that does it. I think that's uh the Ryder Cup recap that I kind of wanted to share. And um, I hope, you know, this maybe answers some of your questions. A lot of people reached out to me, how bad was it? This, that, the other. Um, so I thought, you know, let's do the podcast. Let's uh get our get our thoughts together and put it out there for everybody. And then uh hopefully I don't have to continue to say everything that I just said, you know, multiple times over. Because if you haven't noticed, my voice still has not recovered from the Ryder Cup. Uh being a member of Lowry's army, you got to be boisterous and you got to be loud. So we were definitely having a good fun uh singing late into the night on Sunday uh in support of our guy Shane and all of Team Europe. So um once again, you know, thank you for tuning in, listening to this podcast. If you don't know this, uh we do post the podcast to YouTube as well. Uh you can find that by searching Measured Golf and YouTube. Uh podcast is right there, as well as a lot of videos uh that we put together about you know golf swing instruction and things like that. So uh if you haven't checked that out, please do. Uh and make sure to give us a like, subscribe, all that good stuff. It really, really does make a big difference for me and for the podcast and allows us to continue to do this. So thanks again for listening. Uh, hope you had a wonderful Ryder Cup. If you haven't, go back and watch Sunday, super captivating TV. And until next time, keep grinding.

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Michael Dutro, PGA

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