J.J. Spaun was part of the unsuccessful 2025 US Ryder Cup team that was captained by Keegan Bradley at Bethpage Black last month.
Bradley oversaw a disastrous Ryder Cup for the American team. Even an incredible charge from Spaun and his teammates during the Sunday singles at Bethpage Black was not enough to save the United States from defeat.
It seemed utterly bizarre at the time when Bradley left Spaun out of both Ryder Cup foursomes sessions.
The 2025 US Open champion is one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the professional game and his putting is sensational, as he proved at Oakmont back in June.
That wasn’t the only decision Bradley made which dumbfounded the American fans, though.
Bradley selected Collin Morikawa and Harris English as a partnership for both Ryder Cup foursomes matches at Bethpage.
That was in spite of the fact that they were ranked dead last in 132nd on Data Golf’s ‘optimal pairings rankings’ list.
Then there was the fact that Russell Henley was allowed to take the odd numbered tee shots during the Friday morning foursomes, when all of the data pointed towards the longer hitter in the pairing being better suited to those holes.
So, in spite of some of those shockingly poor calls, should the PGA of America even be considering Bradley for the captaincy role in 2027?
J.J. Spaun says if Keegan Bradley should be Ryder Cup captain in 2027
During the first two days of Ryder Cup action, it was obvious to see that Bradley made a whole host of shocking decisions.
But how does Spaun view the 39-year-old’s captaincy now, when looking back on it?
Spaun sat down to speak with Trey Wingo on his Straight Facts Homie Podcast, and was first asked whether he believes that Bradley should have played on the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage.
“You know, he was put in a tough spot,“ Spaun said.
“The whole team really believed he should have been on the team and we tried to talk him into it.
“It got down to literally, really close to before he had to make his picks, he thought about it that long,“ the 2025 US Open champion continued.
“10th in the world? I mean, we all said, ‘if you weren’t the captain and you’re sitting here number 10 in the world, is that captain going to take you? Of course, 100 per cent of the time’.
“I have so much respect for Keegan because not only did he handle all of this Ryder Cup captaincy responsibility, he played great, he won an elevated event. He’s a father and a husband, he’s dealing with triple the amount of work a normal guy has to deal with by taking on this captaincy role.“
Spaun then responded when asked whether Bradley should be made Ryder Cup captain again for the 2027 edition at Adare Manor in Ireland.
“I do, yeah. I think it would be ultimate redemption if he played his way on and then maybe two years later he captained and won, that would be the ultimate comeback.
“I think he deserves another chance. They’re trying to usher in this new wave of tradition, whether it’s captaincy age or… he did a lot of cool things bringing in vice-captains who we all know.
“It felt like a really tight-knit squad, just kind of bringing guys we see more often around as vice-captains and obviously with Keegan being a younger face has been refreshing for the PGA of America. Hopefully they continue going down that route because I think ultimately that will pay off in the end.“
Tiger Woods the leading candidate for the 2027 US Ryder Cup captaincy
There is no question that Bradley tried his hardest in his role as US captain at Bethpage Black.
However, he proved during the three days of action that he simply wasn’t good enough to have that honor bestowed upon him.
The narrative that Europe won the Ryder Cup purely because of superior putting is flawed in the extreme.
As mentioned earlier, Bradley made one poor decision after another and the buck has to stop with him.
Moving on to 2027, there is nothing the European team would like more than to see Bradley leading the US side once again.
However, it seems like Tiger Woods is the leading candidate to be handed the reins at Adare Manor (Golf Monthly).
The 15-time major champion is obviously a hugely popular figure in the game, but it remains to be seen whether he will flourish in the Ryder Cup captain’s role. Only time will tell with regards to that.
Surely Woods won’t make as many basic errors as Bradley did at Bethpage Black, if he is indeed named as the 2027 US Ryder Cup captain.
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