After months of waiting on Keegan Bradley to make six crucial decisions that could ultimately decide the fate of his U.S. Ryder Cup team next month, we now have our answers.
And there’s one major surprise few saw coming.
Bradley, the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, selected Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns to round out his squad, an announcement he made official at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday morning.
Those six join the half-dozen auto-qualifiers — Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau — that will take on the Europeans in the 45th Ryder Cup on Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black on Long Island.
Although it was somewhat shocking Bradley did not call his own name on Wednesday, as many suspected he’d be the Ryder Cup’s first playing-captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 (a 23-9 U.S. home win). Bradley, 39, has played well enough over the past two years to make a convincing case for his own roster spot. He won once last year and again this season, and after last week’s Tour Championship he sat 11th in the Ryder Cup standings. He was one of the biggest roster snubs for the 2023 Ryder Cup team and has long voiced his deep admiration for the event and why he so badly wants to be a part of it.
But Bradley said Wednesday his decision to not play was made a while ago.
“This was a really tough decision,” Bradley said. “There was a point this year where I was playing a while ago, but all these guys stepped up in a major way and played their way onto this team. That is something I’m really proud of and something I really wanted, but it was an extremely difficult decision but one I’m really happy with. I’m really happy with these six players — and I’m glad it’s over.”
It was a mild surprise when the PGA of America announced Bradley, who had played in just two Ryder Cups, as the captain for 2025, a job that usually is reserved for more veteran players or those with more Ryder Cup appearances or previous vice-captain experience. It’s also one often given to players who likely won’t make the team.
There was always a chance Bradley would play well enough to make the team, but it became more of a conversation topic over the summer when he recorded six top 10s, missed just two cuts and rose all the way to 7th in the Official World Golf Ranking (he’s now 11th). The highlight came in June. As the crowd favorite who grew up just a couple of hours away, Bradley won the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. That victory made the playing-captain possibility a reality.
“I don’t think you’re going to find any or many Americans that are going to argue that he shouldn’t be on the team,” Rickie Fowler said two weeks ago at the BMW Championship.
Opinions, however, varied on if a playing-captain would have the bandwidth to not only play well but captain well. Last week, Bradley called the decision to be a Ryder Cup playing-captain “the biggest of my life.”
On Wednesday, he made it official. He was out.
This will be Thomas’ fourth Ryder Cup. Morikawa and Cantlay will both play in their third, and Burns will play in his second. Griffin and Young will make their Ryder Cup debuts.
Thomas, Morikawa and Griffin were Nos. 7-9 in the final Ryder Cup standings, while Young (14th), Cantlay (15th) and Burns (16th) were outside the top 12. Maverick McNealy (10th) and Brian Harman (12th), along with Bradley (11th), were the players in the top 12 of the standings not picked.
The European Ryder Cup team solidified its six auto-qualifiers on Sunday. Captain Luke Donald will make his six captain’s picks on Monday.
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