Stunning win moves Keegan Bradley closer to Ryder Cup playing captain status
In winning the Travelers Championship on Sunday, Keegan Bradley didn't just set off jubilant cheers in his native New England while breaking the heart of Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.
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Bradley also moved up the U.S. Ryder Cup team rankings and — if he doesn't manage to crack the top-six group of automatic qualifiers — positioned himself to possibly become a captain's pick.
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Which sets up the potential for a fascinating scenario, given that Bradley is the U.S. Ryder Cup captain.
'I never would have thought about playing [in the Ryder Cup] if I hadn't won, and this definitely opens the door to play,' Bradley said after his 18th-hole birdie gave him a 2-under-par 68 and a one-shot win over Fleetwood and Russell Henley at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. '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, and we'll see.'
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Having entered the week with eight top-25 finishes this season, including a tie for eighth at the PGA Championship last month, Bradley was 17th in the Ryder Cup rankings. Sunday's win, his first in 2025, is set to vault him as high as ninth.
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American players can accrue Ryder Cup standings points through the BMW Championship in mid-August, but Bradley's current form puts him in strong contention for at least an at-large selection. There is one caveat, however: He has said he would only become a playing captain if he piled up enough points.
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'I'm not going to pick myself,' Bradley said in August, several weeks after the PGA of America named him Ryder Cup captain. '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.'
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If the 39-year-old winner of the 2011 PGA Championship had difficulty envisioning himself making the Ryder Cup team, that apparently was less of a problem for PGA of America officials. Bradley told reporters Sunday that when they informed him last year of his captaincy, they said they wanted him to become the first U.S. playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
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'My head was spinning,' Bradley said of getting that call. 'I didn't know what they were talking about, but they knew that was a possibility.'
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That possibility grew after Bradley stormed back on the final four holes to overtake Fleetwood, who started Sunday with a three-shot lead and regained that advantage after Bradley bogeyed the 14th. Bradley drained a 35-foot birdie putt at the 15th to creep closer, though, then watched Fleetwood make bogey at the par-3 16th.
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