Jack Nicklaus says whether he thinks Keegan Bradley can be a playing captain of the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage

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The biggest talking point ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage is what job Keegan Bradley will have on the United States team.

He narrowly missed out on making Zach Johnson’s team in 2023, which was probably the wrong decision, as the European team won convincingly.

Bradley was then announced as the next US captain last year, and he seemingly has all the qualities to succeed as the team leader in New York.

But the 38-year-old’s unwavering passion for the competition means that he still craves another opportunity to participate as a player.

18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus has now weighed in on the debate over whether Bradley could perform both roles at the Ryder Cup.

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Jack Nicklaus offers opinion on Keegan Bradley playing captain debate

While many believe the Ryder Cup captaincy is too mentally draining to be able to play as well, Nicklaus thinks Bradley could do both at Bethpage.

“Sure, you can,” explained the Golden Bear. “Why not? I don’t really know what the captain does anymore. Arnold [Palmer] captained and played. I didn’t. I think Arnold may be the last captain who played.

He continued: “If Keegan wants to play, I think he could play. I don’t think he will. I think he’ll be a little busy doing the other stuff, but he could play. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

Nicklaus even suggested he could have been a playing captain in the 1980s, just like his good friend Arnold Palmer was in 1963.

“I captained in ’83 and ’87, and I had the ’86 Masters in there somewhere, so I wasn’t that far past it,” he added.

Where does Keegan Bradley rank in US Ryder Cup qualification standings?

While the discussion is interesting, it remains unlikely that Bradley will play his way into contention for a place on the US Ryder Cup team.

Five of the six automatic qualification places are seemingly nailed on, with Russell Henley’s spot potentially up for grabs.

For Bradley to assume sixth position in the standings, he probably needs to win the US Open, the Open Championship, or one of the two remaining PGA Tour Signature Events.

The 2011 PGA Championship winner is in 18th position on 3,471.39 points, ahead of the Memorial Tournament, over 3,000 fewer than Henley.

He could still make the team via a captain’s pick, but that would also require him to play much better in the upcoming tournaments.