Team USA is not in a good spot.
Day 2 at Bethpage Black kicked off with roaring cheers and electric energy as Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Young teed off against Europe’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg.
The crowd was loud, and the stakes looked high as Team USA finally found early momentum.
DeChambeau and Young delivered a clinical 4&2 win — their first point of the day — and a much-needed spark for Keegan Bradley’s squad.
But as the second group, including Collin Morikawa and English Harris from Team USA, against Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy neared the back nine, tension thickened.
McIlroy, who had warned earlier this week that Bethpage could be “a pretty hostile environment,” didn’t hold back when the noise got too much.
On the 13th hole, the Northern Irishman dropped an F-bomb after fans tried to distract him midswing.
“Guys, shut the f*** up!” he snapped, as captured in a video reposted by Fore Play on X, before sticking his shot to 3 feet.
Instead of folding, the world No. 2 flipped the script then and there, beating Team USA with a 3&2 win.
It felt like a deja vu moment. On Day 1, Fleetwood and McIlroy had beaten the same duo with a 2&1 score.
And as it happened again, analysts and fans alike questioned Captain Bradley’s decision to run it back, including Paige Spiranac.
Spiranac, one of the most influential faces in golf, posted on X, “I don’t understand how nobody on team USA spoke up and said yeah maybe the Morikawa/English pairing just isn’t it.”
Europe’s dominance didn’t stop there. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton repeated the pattern from Day 1 as they won another point for the team on Saturday.
Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre, on the other hand, edged out Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley 2&1.
The foursome session ended with Europe claiming three wins. Only DeChambeau and Young salvaged a point for the Americans.
That pushed the overall score to 8.5-3.5 in Europe’s favor heading into the afternoon fourballs.
Team USA is officially in trouble. As Michael Jordan said on Friday, “We got problems.” After another tough session, that warning looks more real than ever.
And if the first two days at Bethpage Black have proved anything, it’s that heckling McIlroy only fires him up to gain points for his captain and team.
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