Team USA may have a big Ryder Cup decision to make after what happened at the PGA Championship

Add as preferred source on Google

Team USA will battle it out with Team Europe for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black later this year in September.

The Europeans will be defending the Ryder Cup after they convincingly beat the Americans in Rome back in 2023.

Team Europe is shaping up really nicely right now, while there are question marks about the Americans.

LIV Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka were invited to a Ryder Cup team dinner recently.

And as things stand, it is still really unclear who will make the team outside of the top six.

The current top six looks as strong as ever for the United States.

Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Russell Henley will all qualify automatically for the team as things stand.

However, outside the top six is where things start to look less optimistic.

There is a mix of fairly unknown names and out-of-form players.

Meanwhile, Team Europe seems to be stacked with talent and experience.

Here’s how the current top 12 look in the American standings:

However, it’s someone outside the current top 12 who really could cause a big problem.

Team USA may have a Keegan Bradley problem at the Ryder Cup

Keegan Bradley finished in a tie for 8th at the PGA Championship last week, after four incredibly solid rounds of 68, 72, 68 and 72.

He is clearly still very much competitive at the highest level of the game.

Bradley was announced as the United States team captain for the upcoming event last year, but he surely wouldn’t have imagined that he’d still be in with a chance of qualifying for the team.

Bradley is currently sitting in 17th position in the Team USA standings.

Whilst he will need a win in order to move close to the top six, his current form is certainly worthy of a shout for a captain’s pick.

Now, Bradley surely wouldn’t pick himself, but what will happen if he does qualify automatically?

And what about if he finishes in seventh or eighth position in the qualification standings? That would surely be evidence that he deserves to be on the team.

This is all a problem that Team USA could have avoided. It’s why there were so many questions being asked of appointing a 38-year-old as captain in the first place.

Bradley recently said he didn’t know if he could play on the Ryder Cup team, and he may well have to make that decision in a couple of months.

What happens if Keegan Bradley does qualify for the Ryder Cup?

As unlikely as that scenario may seem right now, it’s certainly still possible.

I think the bottom line here though is that someone simply cannot serve as team captain AND play on the team at the same time — it’s just not feasible.

One of two things will have to happen, if Bradley does qualify for the Ryder Cup team.

He will have to either forfeit his place on the team, and continue as captain.

Or, he will have to forfeit his position as captain, and choose to play on the team. Perhaps the United States could then allow Bradley to captain the Ryder Cup team in 2027, or the next event when he fails to qualify.