Keegan Bradley did not call his own name Wednesday for the United States Ryder Cup team, deciding against becoming the event’s first playing captain in 62 years.
Bradley named Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns as his six captain’s picks for next month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
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Despite having a legitimate case to make the squad, Bradley revealed Wednesday that he decided “a while ago that I wasn’t playing,” adding that he had finalized the U.S. roster earlier this week. He would have been the first Ryder Cup playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 at East Lake.
“The last 48 hours, we had the team set. We weren’t scrambling at all,” Bradley said during a news conference at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas. “This was a really tough decision. I will say, there was a point where I was playing. All these guys stepped up in a major way and played their way on to this team, and that’s something that I’m really proud of, and something that I really wanted.”
Bradley, 39, finished 11th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings this season and is the eighth-best American in the world rankings. He has won twice in the past 13 months against the best players — only Scottie Scheffler has more PGA Tour wins in that span.
Although he admitted he wanted to play, Bradley reiterated “I’m 100-percent certain this is the right choice” to leave himself off the squad.
Bradley also was 11th in Ryder Cup points in 2023, but U.S. captain Zach Johnson passed him over to pick Burns, Rickie Fowler and Thomas, who were lower in the standings. The Europeans routed the U.S. 16½-11½ at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside Rome.
“I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups,” Bradley said. “I grew up wanting to fight alongside these guys, and it broke my heart not to play. It really did because you work forever to make these teams, but ultimately, I was chosen to do a job. I was chosen to be the captain of this team, and my ultimate goal to start this whole thing was to be the best captain that I could be, and this is how I felt like I could do this.”
Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau already qualified for the U.S. team by finishing in the top six in the U.S. standings this season.
Bradley said he wasn’t swayed by European star Rory McIlroy’s recent comment that he turned down a chance to be a playing captain in a future Ryder Cup because it’s too difficult.
“I just am not worried at all about what they do or say,” Bradley said. “I care about our team. Not quite sure how he would know if it’s not possible. No one’s ever done it, really.”
Griffin and Young are among four U.S. Ryder Cup rookies, along with Spaun and Henley. Young grew up in New York and set the course record at Bethpage Black in a state amateur event. He captured his first PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 3 and had top-12 finishes in each of his past four starts.
“Obviously, playing for your country is very special,” Young said. “And for me, you know, the U.S. is home, but New York is really home for me. So going back up there to somewhere that I love, I can’t wait to get out there.”
Griffin, 29, has been one of the most remarkable stories in professional golf this season. He walked away from the game in 2021 and was working as a mortgage loan officer in North Carolina. He returned to the Korn Ferry Tour the next year and worked his way onto the PGA Tour.
Griffin and Andrew Novak won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event in April, then Griffin finished first in the Charles Schwab Challenge on his own. He was runner-up at the Memorial, tied for eighth at the PGA Championship and for 10th at the U.S. Open. He had three top-12 finishes in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, pushing his way onto the U.S. team.
“Going from a desk job to making my way back to the PGA Tour, it’s been an incredible journey,” Griffin said. “This year, it’s been kind of a breakthrough year for me, and I’ve just been working really hard and believing in myself. I’m just really excited to be a part of this team and appreciate the belief, not only from Keegan, but also from the rest of the captains and other players that also believe in me.”
Maverick McNealy (10th in points), Brian Harman (12th), Novak (13th) and Chris Gotterup (20th) were other golfers who were believed to be in the hunt for captain’s choices.
European captain Luke Donald will make his six picks Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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