Keegan Bradley created USA's Ryder Cup captaincy problem – there's only one way to fix it

Independent

5 hours ago

From the crushing disappointment of Tommy Fleetwood to the euphoria spilling out from Keegan Bradley 's winning putt on the 18th green at TPC River Highlands. The Travelers Championship provided a glimpse of the bedlam that awaits at Bethpage Black in September's Ryder Cup.
As Fleetwood stumbled, Bradley, Team USA 's captain, ruthlessly seized glory and ripped up the initial plans for this year's hosts in the process.
Bradley was a shock pick to lead the United States last year in pursuit of revenge in New York this fall, following an emphatic defeat at the hands of Europe in Rome two years ago.
The subject of one of the most iconic scenes in Netflix series Full Swing, Bradley was gently told over the phone he would not be joining the stars and stripes as one of skipper Zach Johnson's wildcard picks in Italy.
'There's no easy way to say this, my friend,' Bradley was told by a clearly uncomfortable Johnson, who would eventually oversee one of the more farcical defeats in the event's history, with the star-studded Americans imploding amid rumours swirling around pay demands and a bizarre hat protest.
The raw footage in the show showed a 'devastated' Bradley, then No 18 in the world, consoled by his wife and son. By that point, the documentary had made clear his desperation to play in another Ryder Cup nine years after his last, revealing that he still hadn't unpacked his suitcase from that 2014 contest due to the agony of defeat in Scotland and the sense of unfinished business,
Luke Donald would go on to mastermind a 16.5-11.5 beatdown of a Bradley-less US team, which included the game's most dominant player, Scottie Scheffler, left in tears after the Texan and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka suffered a record 9 and 7 thrashing to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg.
Candidates for the 2025 US captaincy were sparse, while the timing was not quite right for Tiger Woods to seize the throne. It all led to CEO of PGA of America Seth Waugh offering Bradley, at just 38 years of age at the time, one of the most prestigious roles in American golf.
Bradley was still playing at a high level in 2024, though qualifying automatically for the team and securing a top-six finish in the points list appeared unlikely, which remains the case. And given that prior phone call with Johnson, a wildcard pick looked improbable too, with the notorious 'boys' club' thought to still influence Team USA.
A peculiar role, with the last playing captain Arnold Palmer in 1963, Bradley expressed his desire to qualify automatically but vowed not to select himself as a wildcard.
'I want to play on the team. I feel as though I'm still in the prime of my career,' Bradley said at the time. 'I'm not going to pick myself. The only way that would happen is if the team was insisting on it. But even if they did, I don't see that happening. I want to make the team on points, otherwise I'm going to be the captain.'
But Bradley's position has shifted through impressive play and the core of the previous USA Ryder Cup team somewhat unravelling since: Max Homa, a stalwart and shining light amid chaos at Marco Simone, has suffered a drastic decline, Wyndham Clark is battling demons after destroying an Oakmont locker this month, Rickie Fowler failed to qualify for the Masters and US Open this year and Patrick Cantlay has been cut twice in 2025 majors.
"It's still June, so we have got a long way to go [but] this definitely changes things a little bit," Bradley admitted, while walking back his intention from a year ago, despite a top-six finish still unlikely – with sixth-placed Justin Thomas more than 2,100 points ahead and Collin Morikawa, the first man outside the top six, more than 1,600 points ahead.
Bradley was coy initially after claiming victory on Sunday, simply responding with 'Go USA!' when asked during his broadcast interview on the 18th green, but when pushed in the subsequent winner's press conference about his involvement as a player, he conceded his mindset had shifted.
"This definitely opens the door to play,' Bradley said. 'I don't know if I'm going to do it or not but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what's best for the team. I have to take a pretty hard look at what's best for the team.
"Every year I was out here, I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team, and then this would be the first year where maybe I didn't want to. I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, this is what happens."
With Donald's strategy alongside analytics guru and vice-captain Edoardo Molinari instilling harmony inside Team Europe, Bradley's vital mistake was ruling out the possibility of earning a wildcard selection in the first place. Had he left his options open, he could have planned for that eventuality, placing further faith in his vice-captains – currently Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Kisner – while publicly illustrating how his role might evolve if his own play soared.
But now his prowess on the course only serves as a distraction, with a referendum on his involvement set for each Monday after he performs until the six captain's picks are announced following the Tour Championship on 24 August.
Some might argue the captain's role, particularly on home soil, matters little, with only one improbable away victory in the biennial event since 2006: 'The Miracle of Medinah' in 2012, no less.
Yet Donald's forensic preparation is a strong counter to that, with Europe's quality likely underlining the importance of strategy further. If Bradley's influence is diminished by playing even one session on Friday or Saturday, is it worth selecting the ninth-ranked player in the standings over, say, the 10th (Harris English) or 17th (Cameron Young, who finished tied-fourth at the US Open) player on the list?
Bradley is therefore left in a bind; should he allow this to drag on to extend his opportunity to climb the rankings, he risks creating more uncertainty in the build-up as Europe finetunes its preparations.
Commentator Jim Nantz concluded Bradley 'considers this [The Travelers Championship] a major' in his closing call on Sunday. 'Can he deliver one at the final hole… Did he ever!'
Those words might point to what Bradley must do in the coming weeks. He could settle the argument once and for all with a win in Portrush at The Open. Even contending for the Claret Jug would further legitimise his status as a playing captain. However, a record of missing the cut in each of the last five Opens does not suggest he is about to rip through the field in Northern Ireland.
'I just wanted to be the captain,' Bradley concluded on Sunday. 'I felt strongly about [not selecting myself to play], they asked me to do a job, I want to do that to the best of my ability.
'But with my amazing vice-captains I have, I feel more comfortable, if I went that route.'