Farmingdale, NY – The thing that people don’t get – that is, people who are not golf – is that golf is about losing. You always lose and now and now you win. The reason that Jack Nicklaus is considered as generally as one of the greatest athletes ever, in all sports, is because of the grace he showed in defeat. The reason Tommy Fleetwood, the English Ryder Cup star, the 2025 Ryder Cup Nicklaus-Jacklin Award held on Sunday evening was because of the grace he shown in his different and moving defeats. At the Ryder Cup 2023, the English golfer Justin Rose received the prize. On Sunday evening, while the Europeans celebrated their victory in the Ryder Cup, Rose Fleetwood tried to spray with champagne. Fleetwood used his Nicklaus-Jacklin Award plate as a shield.
The prize gets its name to two historic Ryder Cup figures, Jack Nicklaus and one of his contemporaries, the English golfer Tony Jacklin, who won the US Open in 1970. Later Jacklin was a four-time Ryder Cup captain. The two golfers will forever be connected for a Putt Nicklaus gave Jacklin as the last moment of the 1969 Ryder Cup, an act of sporting grace that should now mean more than then, and it meant a lot. That Ryder Cup ended in a 16-16 draw, covered by what is now known as the concession.
On Sunday evening I asked Fleetwood if the American Ryder Cup team 2025 lost with Grace.
“Yes, they did,” Fleetwood said. This, one day after one of the most unattractive days, for golf manners, the sport has ever witnessed. The problem on Saturday at Bethpage Black was the behavior of fans. But every American player, Caddy, Plus the captain and his five assistants and other team staff could have done more to keep peace.
“There are many boys in the American team that I would classify as good friends on tour,” said Fleetwood. “It’s one thing if you compete against a person as an individual, and it is another if you compete as part of a team.” The team mentality, Fleetwood, seemed to suggest, causes an increased intensity, and that can be at the expense of ways and habit. He said it wasn’t on Bethpage on Sunday. He said, “We all shake the hand when it was over.”
And what about Saturday?
“It’s what it is,” said Fleetwood. Or it was what it was. “Our boys did a great job under those circumstances.”
Rory McIlroy endured a stream of verbal abuse on Saturday, and also his wife, Erica. Golf at the highest level woke up on Sunday with a black eye. Because of the game and its traditional standards of grace, exactly what Jack Nicklaus stood for, Golf needed a good Sunday at the Ryder Cup. Golf supplied.
At some distance in time and space, McIlroy grew up in a suburb of Belfast under the spell of Jack Nicklaus. McIlroy’s father, Gerry, was a huge Nicklaus fan. In the past 15 or more years, Rory Nicklaus has met well and lives near him in the Bear’s Club in Zuid -Florida.
Keegan Bradley did not win Ryder Cup, but got something valuable
By means of:
Michael Bamberger
On Sunday evening, on the exercise that broke Green, his white team shirt, soaked with champagne, McIlroy briefly spoke in a way of speaking, about the legacy of Nicklaus.
“The American players today definitely behave with class,” said McIlroy. “Really all week. Very stylish. We put them in a hole early and they handled it well.
“With some things I was dealing with this week on the course, I really appreciated how [Justin Thomas and Cameron Young] Tried to calm the crowd, “said McIlroy, referring to his Saturday afternoon Better-Ball session with Shane Lowry.” Scotty [Scheffler] Nowadays it wasn’t really a match in terms of the quality of the Golf, but it was very civil. All players were. They all said, “We are so sorry about what you had to endure.” It is difficult to lose the Ryder Cup. I’ve been there. But they used themselves with class. ‘
The scoreboard total showed the Europeans who won 15-13. As is often the case, the scoreboard hardly hinted at the bubbling stories underneath. Two bad days of bad golf behavior could have really damaged golf. On Sunday, Golf received a W.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments on michael.bamberger@golf.com.
#Ryder #Cup #marred #ugliness #showed #class #defeat