Keegan Bradley could pick himself and leave six-time PGA Tour winner off his Ryder Cup team, according to Smylie Kaufman

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Keegan Bradley faces the prospect of having to make one of the toughest decisions of his life on Wednesday, when he’s due to name his captain’s picks for the upcoming Ryder Cup.

The 45th edition of the Ryder Cup is fast approaching, and anticipation is building as Bradley looks to guide the US team to what would be only their fourth win in the last 12 meetings with Europe.

Bethpage Black will be the host, with a vociferous New York crowd expected to create a hostile atmosphere for the visiting European team.

The upcoming showdown between the United States and Europe is expected to be one of the most exciting yet, and the situation surrounding Bradley regarding whether or not he should pick himself for the team is a really interesting sub-plot.

Bradley has been told that he needs to play at the Ryder Cup by numerous American players and members of the media alike.

And Bradley’s performance at the Tour Championship lent even further credence to the notion that he should play at Bethpage.

The problem is, if he does pick himself, one very good player will have to be left off to accommodate him.

Keegan Bradley could leave six-time PGA Tour winner off the Ryder Cup team

Smylie Kaufman has made a very big call about what Bradley could decide to do regarding his six captain’s picks.

The former PGA Tour player has suggested that Collin Morikawa might just be the player who misses out, if Bradley does indeed decide to name himself as one of his six picks.

When speaking on the Smylie show, Kaufman highlighted the big dilemma that the 39-year-old from Vermont has.

Kaufman said: “I think the team to me is, if Keegan plays, somebody is going to get left off, obviously.

“Ben Griffin has been playing too good to be left off, Sam Burns I think is playing well enough, we already talked about JT.

“So if Keegan were to not play and then Morikawa is on the team, that’s a pretty dang good top 12. I think Keegan will look at that list and say, ‘you know what, it would be hard to call one of these guys and leave them off the team‘.

“I think the one player you look at whose form is the worst of the bunch is probably Morikawa. He has had only one top 10 since May or something (actually since mid-March). It’s been a long time since he had a top 10. He’d be the one player, who it’s not a good course fit with it being a long golf course, sure he’s played in a bunch of Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups and has a ton of experience, that would be the one who I think would be the biggest shock.

“I do think he’ll be on the team but I could see a world where Keegan picks himself over Morikawa and even then, it just feels weird even having Ben Griffin on the team over Morikawa, it just feels wrong.

“But Ben has played so well, what else could he have done to make this team? I think there’s a lot of respect in the locker room for Ben Griffin as to how good he is.“

Kaufman then shared who he thinks should make the team out of Morikawa or Bradley.

He said: “Sam’s (Burns) on the team in my opinion. I think you just put Morikawa on the team at that point, if it comes down to him or Bradley.“

Keegan Bradley vs Collin Morikawa: 2025 PGA Tour stats and results compared

Bradley has unquestionably been in better form than Morikawa on the whole throughout the 2025 season.

Here are their stats and results compared in 2025:

Bradley has clearly played a lot better than Morikawa this season, and the 39-year-old surely has to be on the US Ryder Cup team next month.

There is a scenario where Morikawa and Bradley make the team, of course, with either Sam Burns or Cameron Young missing out.

Whatever happens, nobody will envy the tough call facing Bradley on Wednesday and one thing’s for certain, there will be a few players left really disappointed.