When it came time to say the last name for the United States Ryder Cup team, captain Keegan Bradley elected not to pick himself.
Keegan Bradley Will Not Play At 2025 Ryder Cup
Captain Keegan Bradley explains why he didn’t select himself to play on the United States Ryder Cup team. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/UzBp5uwqUG
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 27, 2025
The chance to see a playing captain in the Ryder Cup will not happen.
Bradley announced his six captain’s picks for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. Despite being ranked 11th in the Ryder Cup standings, Bradley did not call his own number.
“The last 48 hours, we had the team set. We weren’t scrambling at all,” Bradley said at a press conference on Wednesday. “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 certainly made a strong case to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. The 39-year-old has won twice on the PGA Tour since August 2024, including June’s Travelers Championship.
Bradley previously played in the 2012 and 2014 Ryder Cup. Zach Johnson famously passed over Bradley at the 2023 Ryder Cup. The Americans were dominated by Team Europe by a score of 16.5-11.5.
Now, Bradley will try to lead the Americans to their third consecutive victory on American soil.
“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.”
Team USA: Full Team For 2025 Ryder Cup
Bradley & The Boys Are Ready for Bethpage Black 🏆🇺🇸#GoUSA pic.twitter.com/CxSmzjDdUm
— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) August 27, 2025
Heading into Wednesday, six of the 12 spots on Team USA had been determined.
Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, and Bryson DeChambeau all qualified based on performance points.
Bradley had to make six captain’s picks to fill out the rest of the team.
Bradley selected Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Cam Young, Ben Griffin, Collin Morikawa, and Sam Burns as his captain’s picks.
The attention will now move to Team Europe, as captain Luke Donald will announce his picks on Monday, Sept. 1.
