With U.S. roster in flux, it’s time to talk about Keegan Bradley playing Ryder Cup

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Keegan Bradley can’t go anywhere without being reminded of it ... not that he needed any reminder to begin with.

Bradley strolled down Quail Hollow Club’s first hole Thursday as a few chants broke out, “USA! USA! USA!”

That’s become as common as “KEEGAN!” these days, his life and public persona inextricably tied to the Ryder Cup. It’s entirely Bradley’s doing, his mind enveloped with the Ryder Cup for much longer than when he was tabbed to lead the U.S. Team at Bethpage Black.

Being a Ryder Cup captain is known to be a time-consuming gig, but Bradley’s particularly obsessed. He can’t go but a handful of minutes without thinking about it. When he’s not playing golf, he’s working through the latest logistical questions that fall under his purview. After a 3-under 68 in the first round of the PGA Championship (a major championship, mind you), Bradley said he would likely knock out a few captaincy to-dos that afternoon.

His mind wanders during competitive rounds, too, random ideas popping into his head often that take him out of focus. His golf bag already sports the 2025 Ryder Cup logo.

He’s more than happy to field questions about it all. His Tuesday pre-tournament press conference started with eight Ryder Cup questions before anyone considered asking him how he felt about his own game.

“I feel great,” Bradley said.

And that’s the crux of the one question Bradley doesn’t like to answer, the one that makes him clam up and hope to move past quickly: What are his chances of making the team?

“I've sort of set a timetable of the U.S. Open to kind of reevaluate … where we stand,” Bradley said Thursday. “But as of right now, I'm not anywhere near making the team. So as I've said a million times, I'm acting as if I am the captain, not playing at this point.”

His first round at the PGA Championship won’t move the needle when it’s time to make a decision, but it does illustrate the predicament ahead. Bradley is still one of the best players in the world. While Ryder Cup captains are traditionally sage, past-their-prime icons, Bradley’s legacy is still being written and the possibility of becoming the first playing captain in decades is slowly morphing into the likeliest outcome. Every good round from now until September will garner questions about the plausibility of that dual commitment.

Bradley is adamant that he will only entertain the idea if he automatically qualifies, a novel conversation when he was named captain last July – largely outside of even Presidents Cup consideration – but not so novel anymore. And his viability on the team is as much about him as it is about the state of the U.S. roster.

Since Bradley was named captain, he won the BMW Championship, which earned him a captain’s pick in the Presidents Cup. He played well at Royal Montreal, securing the winning point for the U.S. Team on Sunday, and has maintained the form of a top-20 player in the world thus far in 2025. It hasn’t done much in vaulting him up the Ryder Cup points list. He’s still 22nd in the standings, far from the top-six position, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. By Data Golf’s statistics, Bradley has been one of the best 12 Americans over any timetable you choose – three months, six months, one year or two years. Meanwhile, many of those above Bradley in the official points list don’t inspire much confidence.

Bradley’s Presidents Cup teammates Max Homa, Sahith Theegala, Wyndham Clark and Sam Burns have fallen out of form, none playing well enough to earn a spot. Brian Harman has won, but he’s not an ideal fit at a brawny Bethpage Black. Billy Horschel’s out all summer after undergoing hip surgery. Jordan Spieth is still working his way back from offseason surgery. Cameron Young hasn’t taken a leap. Neither has Davis Thompson, Will Zalatoris nor Austin Eckroat. Tony Finau is playing OK but isn’t bursting through as a no-brainer selection.

The Americans who are playing well lack experience. Maverick McNealy and Andrew Novak are winners this year, but neither has played in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. Bradley was grouped with both for the PGA’s first two rounds, saying he did not request the grouping and was actually sheepish to play with them.

“I actually kind of felt bad for the boys when I saw it,” Bradley said. “I remember my first time playing with a captain, I played with Tom Watson at The Greenbrier, and I was nervous to do that.”

But if we simply use Bradley’s own words on how he planned to evaluate potential Ryder Cup participants’ performance this week, the final three rounds could be pivotal in his own pursuit.

On Tuesday, Bradley said: “These majors kind of separate guys. You see a guy hang in there on Sunday, that's an impressive thing, especially around a course like this.

“This is as close as we're going to get to Bethpage in that the pressure on Sundays is a lot in a major, and you can see a lot there.”

Will Bradley hang around long enough to subject himself to that cauldron of nerves? He was clinical on Thursday, finishing bogey-free on a course that was handing out plenty, including double bogeys from each of the world’s top three players – Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele – at the 16th.

Bradley began his day with a birdie on the par-5 10th, then flagged his approach on the 12th to within 5 feet and converted the putt. He added another on the 203-yard par-3 13th, again hitting it inside 5 feet for a comfortable birdie. He missed birdie chances at the drivable par-4 14th and par-5 15th, but he navigated Quail Hollow’s "Green Mile" with three pars to make the turn in 33. From there, it was a steady dose of pars. He made a birdie on the seventh hole to briefly push him to 4 under, before dropping a shot at the ninth to close in 3 under.

That bogey kept Bradley from carding just the second bogey-free round of the early wave. The one who did it? European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald.

Donald’s hopes of turning back the clock and making the team are all but nonexistent. He admitted that after his first-round 67, his lowest score in the opening round of a major since 2004. He’s made just seven major starts in the last 10 years and is without a top-40 finish in that span. But Donald wouldn’t count it out for Bradley.

“I see where he practices, and he practices very hard. He's still one of the top players in the world,” Donald said.

Eventually that fact might be too much for Bradley to ignore, even if he doesn’t qualify on points. While Bradley has said that a captain’s pick isn’t on the table, he’s also said he will do whatever gives the U.S. the best chance to win, whether that’s captaining or playing.

There’s plenty of time for circumstances to change, but Bradley is making the case to do both.