E-Paper
Sign In
‘It broke my heart not to play’: Bradley sacrifices his spot in Team USA for Ryder Cup
The youngest American to lead the team since Arnold Palmer in 1963 confirms six captain’s picks to complete squad for Bethpage Black showdown against arch rivals Europe
- PUBLISHED: Thu 28 Aug 2025, 3:00 PM
- By:
- Nick Tarratt, Guest Golf Writer
Keegan Bradley has announced his six captain’s picks for Team USA at next month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, New York, on September 26–28 and confirmed he will not be selecting himself.
Joining automatic qualifiers Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, and Bryson DeChambeau will be Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns.
Recommended For You
Bradley, ranked 11th in both the Official World Golf Ranking and the US Ryder Cup standings, admitted it was a painful call to leave himself out.
“It broke my heart not to play,” he said at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas. “But my ultimate goal is to be the best possible Team Captain. It’s my job to do what’s best for the team, and this is the right choice.
“It was a very difficult decision not to be on the team, but I am very happy with the selection,” he added. “Every time I looked at a leaderboard during the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the players I was considering were all right there near the top. That told me everything I needed to know.”
A former PGA Championship winner (2011), Bradley offers a wealth of experience and respect within the sport. During his playing career, he recorded an impressive 5–2–1 match record in Ryder Cup play, including a spotless 2–0–0 singles record.
He explained that after his win at the Traveller’s Championship, he realised that he, perhaps, could be a candidate to be a player in the Team to enhance the US chances of victory if all the likely players were not on top of their games.
Awakening moment
Then it was an awakening moment when he realised his potential squad of qualifiers and likely picks were performing at their best during the FedEx Cup Play-Offs. He observed that every time he looked at a leaderboard, all the shortlisted candidates for the Team were near or at the top of the leaderboards every week.
Justin Thomas, the most experienced member of the team, praised his captain’s approach: “The signs thus far are promising. The communication, and how transparent Keegan has been … isn’t something we have experienced before.”
Bradley is far from a ‘superstar or legendary’ Captain, apparently Tiger Woods declined the invite to be the 2025 Ryder Cup Captain for Team USA and Bradley was considered a quick reaction decision and was thought by many to be a risk – as he did not receive an invite by the Captain to the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, won emphatically by Team Europe but his appointment was striving to see a changing of the guard for Team US.
Bradley handled the media conference questions maturely and honestly. He impressed all in attendance and those watching live online, and obviously has the support and backing of all 12 players on Team USA, which has not always been the case in recent US Teams.
Aligned with the captaincy
His trusted Vice-Captains also seem to be aligned with Captain Bradley in a seemingly harmonious environment.
One question to be asked is: why could Bradley not have told us all a lot earlier about not considering playing, the decision was obviously not made in the last few days?
Was it a distraction away from his players and also some mind games for Team Europe, especially the change in the Captain’s Agreement to allow Playing Captains, or are we all just over-thinking it?
Attention now shifts to Team Europe’s Captain Luke Donald, who will announce his six picks on Monday, 1st September 2025.
In truth, by not picking himself, he has taken some of the heat off Team USA, and he can merely continue his role as Team Captain. The endless questions to everyone about a Playing-Captain are over, and it is now the players who take centre stage in just one month, and we can start talking and reporting again about birdies and bogeys and foursomes and fourballs and singles and wins and losses.
Now that is a relief!
