Bethpage Black, the storied Long Island course set to host the 2025 Ryder Cup, is drawing fire from a notable critic: former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger.
Azinger, who led the U.S. to victory at Valhalla in 2008, didn’t hold back 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 a “mistake” in selecting it as the host course.
“This golf course, I’m like you. I couldn’t stand it,” Azinger told Wingo, recalling his missed cut at the 2002 U.S. Open. “I think I was 18 over for two days. The media loved it because it was a public course. What are you gonna do if they play the U.S. Open there every five years? I guess I’ll take every fifth year off.”
Azinger’s complaints went beyond personal frustration. He criticized the design itself, calling out awkward angles and blind shots. “I really don’t like Bethpage Black. There’s a lot of awkward angles, downhill tee shots to fairways that angle away, uphill second shots where you can’t see the landing area. It’s just hard and you cannot fluke your way around there,” he said.
More concerning to Azinger is what he sees as a lack of home-course advantage for the American side. “We don’t know the course,” he said. “I think one of the biggest mistakes the American Ryder Cup team or the PGA of America always seems to make is going to courses we’re not familiar with.”
That take runs counter to some of the current U.S. team’s experience. Captain Keegan Bradley played Bethpage regularly during his college days, and Cameron Young, a New York native, won the 2017 New York State Open there. Young even called it “a straight-forward, big-boy golf course” earlier this summer.
Still, Azinger doubled down. “I guarantee you they don’t love it either. Me and you don’t love it. They don’t love it,” he told Wingo.
He also questioned whether Captain Bradley will have any influence over course setup, a factor Azinger said Europe has historically used to its advantage. And he raised concerns about the New York fans: “If the U.S. gets off to a bad start, even the crowd can be volatile there. That’s why I told Keegan right out of the gate, buddy, you gotta win the crowd.”
Despite the criticism, Azinger expressed faith in the U.S. team’s preparation, especially after what he described as being “out-prepared” in Italy in 2023. “There’s no shortcut to success,” he said. “We have the 12 best Americans, and they just have to out-prepare the Europeans, in a nutshell.”
Azinger closed the interview with advice for Bradley: skip the motivational videos. “I wouldn’t play videos of people like Michael Jordan or the President wishing them luck. That just makes you want to throw up,” he said. “It didn’t help me. It made me more nervous.”
The 2025 Ryder Cup begins Friday, September 26 at Bethpage Black.
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