When Keegan Bradley was announced as the new Ryder Cup captain last July, the second question he faced was whether he would consider playing for himself in September 2025 at Bethpage.
“No, I either want to divide the team on points, I won’t choose myself. The only way is if the team sticks to that, but even if they do, I won’t do it. I want to divide the team on points or I’ll be the captain.”
On the interim, Bradley won the BMW Championship in August 2024 and now the Travelers won the two-swinging Pip Tommy Fleetwood in a two-swing swing on the 72nd hole.
The 39-year-old is now ranked seventh in the world, and he ranks the highest and ninth in the Ryder Cup rankings. There are still a lot of golf games – the top six qualified players will be the team after the BMW championship on August 17 – but Bradley’s position is now very different from the previous months.
“It changes the story. If I didn’t win, I would never think of playing. It certainly opened the door to the game. I don’t know if I’ll do that, but of course I have to be very hard to see what’s best for the team, we’ll see. We still have a long way to go. It’ll definitely change, we’ll change, we’ll encounter the best efforts and stand out on the PGA and can win eight wins now,”
One thought is that Bradley may resign as a captain of the United States, which could make Tiger Woods the captain. The chances of this happening may be closer to zero. We went too far, and Bradley was all leaders.
Today, he has four deputy captains – Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner and Jim Furyk – and more. Bradley has a lot of back muscles every day and can line up for Sunday singles.
New England now has two @travelerschamp Trophy pic.twitter.com/6obkucx15d
– PGA Tour (@pgatour) June 22, 2025
Strangely, the American PGA’s phone call asked him to be the next captain, and it was the day he was on the Victory Day of the Traveler. The answer is changing now since he has been having the same question.
“Whether I play well or not, it’s something I’ve gotten used to. Honestly, I never really planned to play. I really want to be the captain. I’m really strong. I want to serve these people. I want to serve these people. They want me to do a job. I want to do this to the best of my ability.
“Now, with the amazing deputy I have, I have a better view of playing in the Presidents Cup and a lot of people, and if I go that route, I feel more comfortable. I am proud of the guys who are the deputy, you are Jim Furyk, you are Jim Furyk, you are Jim Furyk, you are the greatest player, an incredibly great captain, and a great captain of the Presidents Cup.”
Even with nearly two months of golf hitting Bradley’s world rankings, even bad results won’t fall too far. Again, with eighth place in the PGA and seventh place in the memorial and now winning in his last four games, he will likely just keep the heater moving forward and into the team.
“The first thing they said when they called me and told me I was the captain of the Ryder Cup, ‘We want you to be the first game since Arnold Palmer in 1962.’ I mean my head was spinning and I don’t know what they were talking about, but they knew that was a possibility and we’d be ready for it.
“I feel like I’m playing the best golf of my career right now. A year ago, I didn’t know if I would have thought I would have been ranked seventh in the world, but of course I thought I would have competed in the game. If Tiger or Phil got the same way at my age.
Read more: TPC River Heights has 7 lowest rounds ever, including Jim Furyk’s history 58
