Keegan Bradley called it the biggest decision of his life. As captain of the United States’ Ryder Cup team, he had the power to choose himself for the roster after being snubbed in 2023.
But Bradley decided against becoming the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963, instead using his picks on Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns about four weeks ago.
In a joint press conference with Team Europe captain Luke Donald on Monday at Bethpage Black, Bradley revealed that the choice has weighed on him ever since.
“I’ve thought about it every second,” Bradley said. “But I’ve also thought about how impossible it would be.
“Like I said earlier, I was picked to do this job as captain, and there’s been certain things that I’ve done during the week or lead-up that if I was playing, I don’t think I could have done at the level that I needed to do them at.
“I catch myself every now and then looking down the fairway, seeing the guys walk down the fairway and think how badly I’d like to do that, and how badly I’d want to be in the group with Scottie Scheffler and seeing him play and being his teammate. But I feel like I’ve been called for a bigger cause here, to help our guys get ready to play and play at the highest level.
“But in the back of my mind,” Bradley added with a grin, “I’m always thinking, ‘I could have been out there.'”
Bradley won’t be able to call his name and pull out his driver come Friday, when the 45th Ryder Cup begins with a morning foursomes session. He’ll try instead to leave his mark as a leader and team manager as the U.S. tries to bounce back from a sound defeat in 2023 outside Rome.
“My main goal is to put these players in their best position to play well. When you do that, the guys can go out and perform at their highest level,” Bradley said. “But ultimately the players are going to decide the Ryder Cup. But I definitely think the captain and the vice captains, their main goal here, their main job is to put the players in the best position to play at their best.”
Friendly rivalry
Much of Monday’s press conference focused on the close relationship between Bradley and Donald. After all, it isn’t often that opposing Ryder Cup captains live 4 miles apart.
For a number of years, Donald has been based out of Jupiter, Fla., where Bradley and plenty of other PGA Tour pros reside. Bradley called Donald “one of the greatest European captains ever” as well as one of his favorite people in golf.
“I came out on tour in 2011, and he was No. 1 in the world,” Bradley said of the Englishman. “He was the first real, quote-unquote, top player to treat me with the respect that I couldn’t believe. ‘I get to go out and play with Luke Donald, who’s the best player in the world.'”
Bradley also said he wanted to be the one to tell Donald when he was named the U.S. captain last year. Donald captained Europe’s victorious 2023 team and is back for another round.
“Keegan is someone that I’ve rooted for,” Donald said. “If he did well in a tournament, won a tournament, I would text him. And likewise, I think we definitely have a good strong friendship, and I think there’s a mutual respect there.
“It’s nice to have a captain, your captain opposite you, someone that you know and respect a lot. I think we’re also very, very competitive, and that’s not going to change this week. I think we’ll have a drink on Sunday night no matter what the result, but this week is about trying to get our teams to win, and we want to win.”
Donald later chuckled when asked what piece of advice he’d give Bradley ahead of this week.
“Being a captain is not easy,” Donald said. “There’s a lot of buildup. There’s a lot that goes into it. It’s more than just turning up this week and having your players and coming up with some pairings. There’s a lot of intricacies to this. You can get engulfed and a little bit swallowed up sometimes in the little details.
“I think all I would say is, both of us, we need to embrace it, enjoy it, because these are opportunities you don’t get very often.”
Money talks
Bradley also addressed, or deflected, multiple questions about the PGA of America upping player stipends to $500,000, not all of which must be given to charity.
While the European team members will receive no money for their play this week, the Americans have historically been given donations to charities of their choice. In 2023 Patrick Cantlay opted not to wear a U.S. team hat, allegedly in protest of the players not being paid for their participation. Cantlay denied it, but it led to an uncomfortable controversy.
Now, the PGA of America is paying $500,000 to each player, and at least $300,000 must be earmarked for charity.
“The PGA of America came to me. They wanted to bring the Ryder Cup into the present day,” Bradley said. “The charity dollars hadn’t changed since 1999 and they asked me to sort of shepherd their way into making it into 2025.
“I think for everyone it’s a personal decision. A lot of guys aren’t comfortable sharing what they’re going to do with their money, but we’re going to donate.”
Bradley claimed he was “not concerned” with the appearance that the Ryder Cup means more to Europe than the U.S.
“We copied a lot of what the Presidents Cup does,” Bradley said of the money decision. “We did the best we could, and I think a lot of good is going to come from this. I think the players are going to do a lot of good with this money, and I think it’s great.”
