Luke Donald’s Team Europe won the Ryder Cup 2025 on Sunday. The side beat Keegan Bradley’s USA 15-13 at the 45th edition of the team competition held at Bethpage. Following the result, golf analyst Brandel Chamblee has now come out to blame the American team for being ‘distracted’ at the competition.According to Chamblee, Team USA were bothered by the ‘negative response to them pushing to get paid to play in the Ryder Cup.’ The NBC analyst claimed that the European side triumphed while playing for ‘pride and not profit.’ It is pertinent to note that this was the first-ever edition of the team competition were either of the side were paid.The PGA of America decision to financially compensate its players had garnered a mixed reaction from the golf world.Brandel Chamblee wrote on X:“The US gave us all a helluva show today and took what was inconceivable and made it look possible… But the reason I think they were so far behind after two days is that they were distracted by the negative response to them pushing to get paid to play in the Ryder Cup and I think that rallied Europe around the common bond of playing for pride and not profit.”However, Chamblee didn’t stop his analysis with the pay debate criticism. The veteran pundit called out Keegan Bradley’s captaincy as well. He lauded team Europe’s consistency while calling the US’ foursomes teams strategy.He added:“Furthermore the US didn’t have as good a plan for their foursomes teams as Europe and set the golf course up in a way that mitigated the strengths of Scottie Scheffler and a few of their other most important players… But you have to give so much credit to team Europe who consistently bend the laws of probability to their favor by paying attention to all the little things and building a vision for all the big things.”He also reiterated Europe’s dominating run in the Ryder Cup as the US managed to win only one away event since 1987.Brandel Chamblee backs Rory McIlroy's stance on Ryder Cup pay debateThis isn’t the first time Brandel Chamblee has criticized the US players for getting paid at Ryder Cup. For the unversed, the PGA of America first teased its decision to pay the US Ryder Cup players in 2024. According to reports at the time, the officials were set to hand out financial benefits that amount to $400,000, which was later changed to a $200,000 stipend and a $300,000 charity sum, to each player.Chamblee ripped into the ‘misdirected’ American golfers for breaking a 97-year tradition of playing for their country without pay. Interestingly, his first comments came after European star Rory McIlroy took a jibe at the pay debate and claimed he would ‘pay to play’ in the competition. The NBC analyst backed the reigning Masters champion’s take and dubbed it a ‘sad commentary on the professional game.’Brandel Chamblee wrote on X in November, 2024:“Once again Rory (McIlroy) hits the nail on the head. It’s a sad commentary on the professional game that a few players with misdirected and undo power treat every aspect of this game, including the privilege of playing for one’s country, as transactional. They are the reason the very lifeblood of this game, which is to say those that play it recreationally, are increasingly turning away from those that play it professionally.”Brandel Chamblee @chambleebrandelLINKOnce again Rory hits the nail on the head. It’s a sad commentary on the professional game that a few players with misdirected and undo power treat every aspect of this game, including the privilege of playing for one’s country, as transactional. They are the reason the veryChamblee further used the example of historic artist Michelangelo making the ‘statue of David’ for ‘merely honor the glory of man.’ Calling out the ‘increasing commoditization’ of golf, the analyst claimed that great moves in history like the Italian artist’s sculpture wasn’t ‘motivated by money.’ He opined the players should ‘play for the privilege of it, and not the profit of it.’