America’s 2025 Ryder Cup team may have its new captain. Keegan Bradley, who was passed over for the team’s 2023 incarnation, is the pick to lead the team against Europe next year at Bethpage, according to Sports Illustrated.
Tiger Woods had seemed to be the consensus pick for the spot for quite some time, but Woods indicated in May that he has been extremely busy with another endeavor: helping to navigate the PGA Tour-Saudi Arabia alignment. Woods could still serve in some advisory role, depending on Bradley’s preferences.
“We’re still working on what that might look like, also whether or not I have the time to do it,” Woods said of the captain’s job at the PGA Championship in May. “I’m dedicating so much time to what we’re doing with the PGA Tour, I don’t want to not fulfill the role of the captaincy if I can’t do it.”
It’s quite the turnaround in Ryder Cup fortunes for Bradley, whose omission from the Zach Johnson-captained team was a source of considerable debate heading into last year’s Ryder Cup. The U.S. team was thoroughly trounced in Rome, and the powers that be are clearly hoping for a more favorable result on American shores at Bethpage Black in New York next year.
Bradley has won six times on the PGA Tour, including the 2011 PGA Championship. He has played in three international team events — two Ryder Cups and one Presidents Cup — but none since 2014. His career record in the 2012 and 2014 Ryder Cups is 4-2, and in the 2013 Presidents Cup, he went 2-2-1.
He appeared to be on track to earn a captain’s selection last year, but Johnson opted to go with Justin Thomas. Bradley’s bitter disappointment made for one of the most compelling scenes yet in “Full Swing,” the Netflix documentary that has documented the last two golf seasons. After the U.S. team lost 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 at Marco Simone in Italy, all of Johnson’s tactical decisions — starting with the omission of Bradley — came under withering criticism.
Team Europe has already announced that victorious 2023 captain Luke Donald will return in the role for 2025.
The PGA of America will make an official announcement on Tuesday. Others rumored to be in the mix for the captain’s slot include Stewart Cink, Davis Love III and Fred Couples.
