Keegan Bradley's Ryder Cup fortunes appear to have changed quite drastically over the past 12 months, evolving from brutal snub to team captain.
Sports Illustrated's Bob Harig reported Monday afternoon that the 38-year-old is expected to captain the United States team next September after Tiger Woods turned down the opportunity. It's a remarkable turnaround from the 2023 edition, where Bradley was controversially excluded from the American roster and later cited an exclusive culture within the team.
“It was interesting to see for sure,” Bradley told Sports Illustrated in March. “Obviously I sort of do my own thing out there, but I knew I was behind the 8 ball for sure in that category. I said to myself, if you just keep playing well and winning tournaments, that’s the only way I can prove myself. I love those guys —JT [ Justin Thomas ] and Rickie [Fowler ] and Jordan [Spieth ] — so much. I hate saying a negative word or thinking even a negative thought about them."
“But I kept telling myself, listen, this is not going to be easy. You’re not going to be picked if you’re a fringe pick. You have to go prove that they have to pick you. When I didn’t make the team on points, I knew that was a big risk. I knew that if it was down to me or some of those guys, I probably wouldn’t get picked. I knew that going in and I just kept trying to play as hard as I could.”
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Fans enjoyed a unique look at the qualification process for the 2023 Ryder Cup, a biennial competition that pits the best players from the United States and Europe against each other, through an episode of the all-access Netflix series "Full Swing." Bradley steadily accumulated the required points to qualify for his first continental showcase since 2014 but visibly lacked the same interpersonal connection with team captain Zach Johnson as some lesser-performing golfers.
During the episode, Bradley noted, "The reality for me is, I don’t have this connection to that group that a lot of guys have, so I know I have to go play well to get on this team." These fears were founded shortly thereafter as Bradley finished 11th in the Ryder Cup standings and was left behind at the expense of No. 16 Thomas — the selection of players that finish outside the top six "automatic" places is at the discretion of the captain.
The PGA will formally select a captain on Tuesday after initially hoping for Woods to take the captaincy, but the five-time Masters winner expressed hesitancy at balancing the role with his additional PGA Tour responsibilities. NBC Sports had previously listed Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson and Stewart Cink as potential replacement options, the latter of whom confirmed to reporters Monday that Woods passed on the role.
“I thought he should have first run at it and he has,” Cink said. “It doesn’t surprise me that he’s turned it down because since he’s stepped into the board position – the PGA Tour is pretty busy right now and he’s got a lot away from the course too with his injuries and trying to recover and get himself in the kind of condition that he can play. He wants to play."
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