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Ryder Cup Team USA captain Keegan Bradley had an unfortunate verbal flub during the opening ceremony.
Few players in the history of golf have a more decorated Ryder Cup career than Justin Rose, and a slipup from Team USA captain Keegan Bradley added to his impressive resume.
The 2025 Ryder Cup is just about here, with the opening ceremony behind us. The celebration was moved up a day because of weather. Per tradition, each captain gave a speech to the massive crowd, and when Bradley stepped to the microphone, he had an unfortunate verbal flub.
Calling back to Justin Leonard’s famous putt at the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., Bradley mixed up his Justins, instead giving Rose — and Englishman — credit for the putt.
“The Ryder Cup became personal for me in 1999 at Brookline,” Bradley said during his speech. “I was 13 years old, perched on my dad’s shoulders watching Justin Rose’s miracle putt drop on 17.”
Keegan Bradley Mistakes Justins in Brutal Ryder Cup Flub
Yikes.
In Bradley’s defense, Rose has been around a long time. In fact, Rose had indeed turned pro prior to the 1999 Ryder Cup, speaking to his incredible longevity. This will be the seventh time he’s represented Europe, and he comes in with an impressive 14-9-3 record, winning nearly 60% of his matches. He’s 11th on the all-time Ryder Cup points list. However, his first Ryder Cup selection didn’t come until 2008 at Valhalla.
And while he might not have sunk that putt in ’99 at Brookline, he does own a clutch putt of his own from the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.
Bradley Catches Heat for Motivational Tactic
Verbal tumbles aside, Bradley has left no doubt how important the Ryder Cup is to him. His love for the event has been well documented, reaching new heights in his “Full Swing” appearance on Netflix. Every chance he has had to make the point, he has taken it, saying this is one of the most important things he’s done in his life.
And with that, he has clearly put a lot of thought, time and effort into rallying his troops. With the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island, Bradley and Team USA sought some inspiration from the New York City fire department. FDNY lieutenant Chris Mascali, whose father died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, addressed the team to open the week.
It was a nice moment in a video meant to rally the American golf fans, but The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown argued it was in poor taste.
“It marked the moment that the hoopla veered from the absurd into the downright distasteful,” he wrote. “This was hardly the fault of Mascali, a proud son simply doing what was asked of him. But it reflected painfully on the hubris of the men in red, who imagined that their task this week of hitting a little white ball around a Long Island field was tantamount to firefighters racing towards a burning skyscraper.”
In a lot of ways, Bradley’s comments and tactics are what make Ryder Cup week such a bonanza. There’s so much attention to paid to every little detail, and it doesn’t take much to stoke the flames of controversy. European captain Luke Donald using the speech to chirp the Americans for taking money to play this week only added to arguably the biggest storyline of the event.
Thankfully, the actual golf is just about here.
Mike Cole Mike Cole covers golf as well as the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans for Heavy.com. He previously worked at NESN where he covered Boston sports (and much more) for 15 years. More about Mike Cole
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