Justin Rose says if he actually wanted Keegan Bradley to pick himself for the Ryder Cup

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Justin Rose is the consummate professional, so it’s interesting to hear his take on Keegan Bradley not selecting himself for the US Ryder Cup team.

Rose enjoyed a fabulous 2025 season on the PGA Tour, as did Bradley, with both players getting back into the winner’s circle.

Just last month, Rose said that Bradley will be a great Ryder Cup captain, but should the American have selected himself?

There’s certainly an argument to be made that he should be playing at the Ryder Cup – he is the world number 11 after all.

However, the 39-year-old from Vermont decided to focus purely on the captaincy in the end.

Brandel Chamblee described that decision from Bradley as one that could win the United States the Ryder Cup.

However, would Rose have preferred it if Bradley played for the US?

Justin Rose says if he wanted Keegan Bradley to pick himself for the Ryder Cup

Rose is playing in the BMW Championship at Wentworth this week.

He addressed the media on Tuesday and unsurprisingly, the topic of conversation quickly turned to the upcoming Ryder Cup.

Rose responded when asked whether Bradley should have played at Bethpage Black, and if he actually wanted to see his American counterpart tee it up.

He said: “I don’t know. Obviously he’s seventh in the world, I think. He’s a great player. He’s playing unbelievable golf. Again at the PLAYERS Championship, he shot under par and beat most of us.

“I just felt the interesting dynamic was to win the Ryder Cup, you need to win 14 1/2 points. I felt like if he picked himself, he needed to put points on the board. But obviously he’s backing himself to be a good leader because he’s inspiring his team to get 14 1/2 points. That was the only way I looked at it was, okay, can I put three points on the board? That’s the best way to win the Ryder Cup.

“But it’s good to see that he’s backing himself to be the inspirational leader that can inspire his team to do that. Yeah, he obviously left it late, and I think he put himself in that predicament by playing such good golf. He was clearly considering it because he left it late. But it would have been fair play either way in my mind. Because obviously you do have to back yourself. If you do pick yourself, there’s a lot of scrutiny, on him too.

“Yeah, I guess he’s willing to sacrifice himself to be the ultimate kind of inspirer.“

Rose is spot on there. If Bradley had picked himself, he would have been under immense pressure to secure a winning record.

However, the flip-side of that is that if he won his matches and the United States went on to be victorious, he would have instantly become a living legend in his homeland.

Justin Rose vs Keegan Bradley: 2025 PGA Tour results

Rose and Bradley both won in 2025 and they racked up plenty of top-10 finishes between them as well.

Here are the two players’ results on the PGA Tour in 2025:

Bradley clearly played more consistent golf than Rose, but the Englishman’s win and his top-10 finishes came in bigger events than the American’s, hence why he earned more money.

At 45, Rose is in the twilight years of his career, and Bradley at 39 should definitely be looking at the European Ryder Cup star for inspiration as he enters the back nine of his own career.