For the past 14 months, the Ryder Cup has been Keegan Bradley’s present and future as the captain of Team USA.
Bradley has immersed himself in being captain, impressing World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and other foundational team members with his motivational tactics and connection with the group. While spearheading a brain trust that hopes to win back the cup at Bethpage Black in September, Bradley is also playing the best golf of his career, making his job as captain much more difficult than anticipated.
When Bradley won the Travelers Championship in June, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would pick himself to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. But since that win in Connecticut, Bradley has gone T41-T30-CUT-T44-T17. That has made his excruciating decision — one he will make on Wednesday when he makes all six of his captain’s picks — all the more difficult.
“It’s difficult because I want to put the team in the best position to win the Ryder Cup,” Bradley said after Saturday’s third round at the 2025 Tour Championship at East Lake. “So there’s sort of an unknown of — Arnold Palmer did it in 1963, but it’s a totally different tournament now. It’s just a heavy decision. All the picks are tough. Captain is going to be judged on who they pick. Pretty strange thing to pick yourself. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and I just want to make sure we make the right one.”
If Bradley, who hasn’t played on a Ryder Cup team since 2014, is looking for a sign of what to do, the past two days at East Lake might have sealed his Ryder Cup fate.
He arrived in Atlanta gassed from a long list of Ryder Cup duties, from handing out tickets at Bethpage on Monday to a dinner on Tuesday. The Ryder Cup has been all he’s thinking about as his decision and the competition near. Bradley didn’t expect to play well this week at East Lake, and an opening-round of even par didn’t do much to bolster the case to pick himself for one of the last spots on the team. But then came a sizzling six-under 64 on Friday, which Bradley backed up Saturday with a 63 to vault into contention. He’ll enter Sunday’s final round in fourth place at 13-under, three shots back of Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay.
“I have no idea,” Bradley said on Saturday when asked what has allowed him to play well this week.” I was so tired Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I was really just truthfully trying to get through this week. This is a bit surprising, but just I really played spectacularly today. I’m really proud of this round.”
Bradley admitted that getting the Ryder Cup out of his mind has been nearly impossible, even when he’s inside the ropes trying to win the golf tournament. He thinks of things mid-round and writes them in his yardage book to put into his phone afterward.
He’s the captain, and that’s a hat that he can’t take off.
“I caught myself on the range today thinking about something I wanted to tell the team at Bethpage, and it happens to me throughout the round,” Bradley said. “I see a guy at the leaderboard, and I remember who we’re thinking of pairing him with, and it’s great that they’re playing good, or I wish they were a little higher, whatever it is. It’s been a wild year. I’m just trying to tackle what’s in front of me, and I think I’ve done a good job of that.
“But it’s really hard,” Bradley said of being captain and playing at a high level. “You talk to the captains of the past, this is when you really start to amp it up. They’re doing the same thing; they’re just not out here competing like I am. They went through this just the same. It’s just a different unique experience. One I never expected.”
Six members of Bradley’s team are already set in stone.
Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Bryson DeChambeau, Russell Henley and Harrish English automatically qualified on points. It seems likely that Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Cantlay will also be headed to New York in September. Ben Griffin has played outstanding golf all season, and Cameron Young, who has good history at Bethpage, has come on hot of late.
That leaves Bradley, who is ranked 13th in the Official World Golf Rankings and will have a chance to win the FedEx Cup on Sunday at East Lake to put the finishing touches on his own final statement. On paper, were Bradley not the captain, he would likely be a lock to make the team. That he’s the one who has to make the call makes it much more difficult. It’s a dilemma the PGA of America might have foreseen, but one that no one has the answer to solve.
“It’s a really strange thing to kind of ponder making the picks and then thinking about picking yourself,” Bradley said. “It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t seem like reality sometimes. But we’re going to do the best we can to make the right decision, and it’s going to be controversial to certain people either way. I’m prepared for that. I am confident whichever decision I make, it’s for the betterment of the team, and we’ll see.”
In 24 hours, Bradley could be holding the FedEx Cup. He would be a two-time winner this season and undoubtedly one of the 12 best American golfers. Should he rip around East Lake, a course he has not historically played well, one more time, overtaking Cantlay and Fleetwood while holding off a charging Scheffler, surely that would be all Captain Keegan Bradley needs to see to make that call, right?
“I don’t know,” Bradley said. “We’re going to find out tomorrow. I’m either going to win or I’m not, and we’re going to know the picks. We’re pretty confident with the picks that we have. One more day of golf to kind of finalize this whole thing, and I can’t wait.
