Commentary: The U.S. Ryder Cup team played inspired Sunday. What took so long?

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – A Sunday stroll around Bethpage Black that should have been carefree turned tense. The Ryder Cup was over until it wasn’t. The American side was dead until it pushed open the coffin and staggered to its feet. Just when the droves of red-white-and-blue-clad maniacs expected to be filing off the property, a bloodbath became a ballgame. Oh, boy.

“That was a coin-flip there for a second,” American captain Keegan Bradley said.

Who could have predicted that Sunday morning? Grown men, choking back tears in interviews, either because they pulled it out or came up just short.

What a strange feeling, an American comeback that felt epic for 90 or so minutes pushed Europe to the brink but ultimately fell short, thus begging for American introspection. In the end, Shane Lowry, the lovable Irishman, danced a jig across the 18th green, delirious, as the shadows lengthened on Long Island.

“That was the hardest couple of hours of my whole life, honestly,” Lowry said.

After Russell Henley left his 8-foot birdie putt a roll or two short on the final hole, Lowry secured a half-point by converting his putt from a few feet closer, and that meant Europe would retain the Ryder Cup it secured two years ago in Rome. Within the hour, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton secured the half-point that made the Europeans winners, eventually by a 15-13 tally.

And yet here’s Bradley, saying something that seems ridiculous – but actually makes some sense.

“We have some momentum going forward,” Bradley said.

Bradley could say that because after losing each of the first four sessions over two days and sleeping on a seven-point deficit, his side for six hours made Bethpage Black what it was supposed to be all week: a competitive cauldron. The Americans’ match record the first two days: 4-11-1. Their record Sunday: 6-1-5.

“Everything kept happening and happening and happening,” said Justin Thomas, who went off second against Tommy Fleetwood.

Indeed, this Ryder Cup came down to the final matches because Cameron Young converted a birdie putt on the 18th that hung the Americans’ first point on the board. It became a crucible because Thomas followed with another birdie putt at the final hole to secure another point.

A situation devoid of American hope was suddenly filled with it.

“I haven’t felt anything like that playing golf before,” Young said. “That was truly unbelievable to watch.”

Excitement and electricity pulsed in places where they had been absent. That made for an insanely good Sunday. There is a tough truth, though: That 11½-4½ deficit the Americans awoke to – and their 3-9 record in Ryder Cups this century – means there must be serious evaluation of the entire operation. Start with how they choose their next captain, for Ireland in 2027. It can’t be the way they chose their last one.

This is nothing against Bradley. No, the American captain didn’t have a great week. He elected to leave the rough at Bethpage without teeth, making recoveries easy, an error he admitted in hindsight. His pairings were too often suspect. One example: On Friday, Bradley paired Harris English with Collin Morikawa. The golf analytics website Data Golf considered all 132 possible pairings based on statistical strengths and weaknesses in each player’s game. The English-Morikawa combo: 132nd.

That may not be infallible. It’s certainly comical.

“This is no one’s fault but mine,” Bradley said.

That’s a noble stance, even as his team staunchly defended him. The reality is that Bradley never should have been in position to make those pairings or set up the course in the first place.

Imagine you ran a company and you needed someone to lead your most important project. Wouldn’t you collect the best candidates, call them up, ask them to prepare presentations on how they would handle every aspect of the mission and then make a decision? Seems only rational.

Here’s how the PGA of America selected Bradley: He had been perhaps the first man left off the 2023 American Ryder Cup team. The Netflix documentary “Full Swing” filmed Bradley when he received that devastating call. His emotion was raw. It was clear how much he cared. The Americans got run off the course in Rome. Seth Waugh, then the CEO of the PGA of America, apparently thought: “This guy is passionate. Let’s go with him.”

“I didn’t have one conversation with anybody about this until I was told I was the captain,” Bradley said in June 2024, just before his captaincy was announced.

It made no sense then. It makes no sense now. He is just 39, and he could have been playing here. New CEO Derek Sprague must go about making his selection in a thoughtful manner based on the evaluation of various plans. Process can’t be a problem – especially because the candidates certainly are.

The Ryder Cup is foremost about the players, and the Americans didn’t lose this week because of Bradley’s style or Bradley’s choices. The Europeans were better. But the captain is the face of the team for a year and a half leading up to the event. He matters. Ask the Europeans about Luke Donald.

So get the first call out of the way first. Sprague presumably has Tiger Woods’s number. He has to inquire how the greatest ever would handle the tasks involved. But that interview could be short. No one else has the standing or the stature. No one else would command the respect. No one else would, just by his presence, make the Americans stand at attention.

The problem is if Woods doesn’t want it. It’s a big job, and the United States hasn’t won in Europe since 1993, and he might not need the hassle. In that case, then who? Phil Mickelson would have to be forgiven for his LIV Golf defection, and he said on social media Sunday he wasn’t interested anyway. Who’s next in the pecking order? Webb Simpson? Brandt Snedeker? Some other journeyman? Given it’s such a large decision, it’s shocking there’s a dearth of obvious candidates.

Bradley’s captaincy – and a wild Sunday – leaves behind what-ifs. What if Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player and winner of two majors this year, had managed to win one of his four matches Friday and Saturday? What if Henley had made his putt to win a full point against Lowry? What if Viktor Hovland had been forced to earn his half-point rather than gaining it even though he sat out because of a neck injury, an odd Ryder Cup stipulation that dates from 1971?

“The rule has to change before the next Ryder Cup,” Bradley said.

“The rule is the rule,” Donald countered, “and it’s been in place a long time.”

(Side note: Change it.)

The American comeback Sunday made the 45th Ryder Cup memorable. What it shouldn’t do is cover up the errors that led to defeat. The task now: Examine the process – and carefully. Winning in Europe will be daunting. At least the team that is sent there should know it is backed by an operation that thought carefully about how to best approach the task.