Why Day 1 of the Ryder Cup Remains Unforgettable

As 2025 comes to a close, the SI Golf staff looks back on favorite moments and Bob Harig offers a very early but rewarding opening morning at the Bethpage Ryder Cup.

Bob Harig/Sports Illustrated

There was plenty of great stuff to witness in a strong golf year. Rory McIlroy winning the Masters and completing the career Grand Slam, of course, would be hard to dismiss.

The same with his return to Portrush in his native Northern Ireland for the British Open, where Scottie Scheffler won a second major title and fourth overall after also capturing the PGA Championship and then going on to win a total of six times.

J.J. Spaun’s long putt at Oakmont to secure the U.S. Open was epic.

But to me, that early-morning scene at the Ryder Cup was just as memorable. And that atmosphere never fails to disappoint.

Yes, the grandstands getting packed before the sun rises is a biennial occurrence at the Ryder Cup, with each new venue seemingly trying to outdo the previous one.

For the 2025 Ryder Cup, organizers actually spread the grandstands behind the first tee and the 18th green, a move that might have backfired. The more intimate setting around the first tee with a few thousand fans packed in creates a deafening noise and can be considerably intimidating to the opposing team.

But the crowd was more spread out, and if you’re looking for American excuses in defeat ...

Well, that’s not the point.

Getting to the Ryder Cup for the start of the proceedings on Friday morning is always a necessary and yet challenging deal. Along with my Sports Illustrated colleagues who were on Long Island, we left our rental home—25 miles away—at 4:30 a.m. The journey took 45 minutes followed by a nearly 20-minute shuttle ride.

That put us inside the gates before 6 a.m., which allowed for enough time to get situated in the media center and then onto the course well before the scheduled 7:05 a.m. first tee start.

It was still dark but with a nice gloaming sky in the background as I made it out along the 18th fairway to look back at the grandstands from where I took a photo at 6:21 a.m.

The view in the gloaming of the massive Ryder Cup first tee/18th green grandstand from the 18th fairway. / Bob Harig/Sports Illustrated

All of the seats appeared to be filled, and of course music was blaring and the spectator chants were well underway—more than 40 minutes before the first tee shots would be in the air.

Eventually I made my way to the grandstands behind the 17th tee. It would be hours before any players would be there, but at 6:34 a.m., a good number of spectators had joined so they could see the players coming up the first fairway to the left.  A huge screen in the distance that needed to be lighted was in place to show the action.

The view behind the 17th tee on the opening morning of the Ryder Cup. / Bob Harig/Sports Illustrated

Soon enough, the sun peeked through the clouds and the Ryder Cup was to begin with Bryson DeChambeau hitting the opening tee shot for the Americans.

Things did not go well if you were pulling for the USA. And the fan behavior became a storyline over the weekend. But not much beats that early-morning scene, even though it makes for a very long day—especially for those Europeans who had a lot to celebrate, a few of whom took it to another level.

One could say that all the European celebrating was exhausting. / Bob Harig/Sports Illustrated

By then, those packed grandstands had long before cleared out, making for a good resting spot.