Bethpage Black, the Legendary Long Island course that organizes the 2025 Ryder Cup, pulls fire from a remarkable critic: former US Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger.
Azinger, who led the US to Valhalla’s victory in 2008, did not stop during an appearance on Trey Wingo’s Straight Facts Homie! Podcast. He said he “couldn’t stand” Bethpage Black and argued that the PGA of America made an “mistake” when selecting it as a host course.
“This golf course, I am like you. I couldn’t stand it,” Azingo told Wingo, reminded of his missed cut at the US Open 2002. “I think I was two days 18 left. The media thought it was great because it was a public course. What are you going to do if they will open the US there every five years? I think I will take free every five years.”
Azinger’s complaints went beyond personal frustration. He criticized the design himself and cried uncomfortable corners and blind recordings. “I really don’t like Bethpage Black.
More concerning Azinger is what he sees as a lack of benefit for the home of the American side. “We don’t know the course,” he said. “I think one of the biggest mistakes that the American Ryder Cup team or the PGA of America always seems to make to go to courses that we are not familiar with.”
That takes some of the experience of the current American team experience. Kapitein Keegan Bradley regularly played Bethpage during his student days, and Cameron Young, a New York resident, won the New York State 2017 there. Earlier this summer, Young even called it ‘a simple, large golf course’.
Yet Azinger doubled. “I guarantee that they don’t like it either. I and you don’t like it. They don’t like it,” he said Wingo.
He also wondered if Captain Bradley will have some influence on the preparation of the course, a factor of Azinger said that Europe has historically used to his advantage. And he has expressed concern about the fans of New York: “If the US starts a bad start, even the crowd there can be fleeting. That is why I told Keegan directly from the gate, Buddy, you have to win the audience.”
Despite the criticism, Azinger expressed trust in the preparation of the American team, especially after what he described as “outreped” in Italy in 2023. “There is no shortcut of success,” he said. “We have the 12 best Americans, and they just have to set up the Europeans in a nutshell.”
Azinger concluded the interview with advice for Bradley: Skip The motivating videos. “I would not play videos of people like Michael Jordan or the president who wish them happiness. Just surrender that,” he said. “It didn’t help me. It made me more nervous.”
The Ryder Cup 2025 starts on Friday 26 September in Bethpage Black.
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