With the Presidents Cup now in the history books, all eyes are on the 2025 Ryder Cup which is now less than a year away, particularly after Keegan Bradley’s press conference on Tuesday.
Keegan Bradley certainly managed to create a buzz for his captaincy with his performance in the Presidents Cup. Of course, it was the 38-year-old who won the point which clinched the trophy for Jim Furyk‘s men.
One of the reasons the decision to appoint Keegan Bradley as Ryder Cup captain was so shocking was the fact that the 2011 PGA champion was enjoying something of a career resurgence. He was inside the world’s top 20 when he was announced as captain, and he went on to win the BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup play-offs. Bradley certainly deserved a place on Furyk’s team at Royal Montreal.
With that, there are questions regarding whether Bradley could be the first playing captain Europe face in Ryder Cup history. Bradley himself has claimed that the top players want him to be a playing captain, but his experience at the Presidents Cup perhaps brought him back down to earth.
He was stood down as an assistant captain so he could focus on playing. Nevertheless, the skipper for Bethpage has still left the door open to make the team as a player. While he is unlikely to pick himself, it appears that Bradley is determined to qualify to become the US’s first playing captain in the competition since 1963.
Keegan Bradley urged to make decision now ahead of the Ryder Cup
However, speaking on Golf Channel, Mark Rolfing insisted that Bradley would be better off taking himself out of the mix now.
“I think he should put an end to it right now, that ought to be his number one priority. He doesn’t want to have to answer these questions literally for the next 51 weeks, and I’m of the opinion that you can’t do both,” he said.
“The Ryder Cup has become so big, there’s so much that goes along with it that I think you either have to captain or you have to be a player. He did mention that one of the difficulties of being a captain and a player at the same time would be the pairings. That’s true, keep in mind let’s say on Friday morning when you have a session out on the course, there’s going to be pairings that have to go in while those players are still playing and I’m not sure that would all work.”
What the PGA of America should be doing behind the scenes
Bradley is a competitor, and his performance on the PGA Tour in 2024 has opened a number of doors for him. He will now be involved in the signature events and the major championships, so there is a very good opportunity to finish in the top 10 in the qualification standings.
Selfishly, Bradley probably feels that having that goal will give him something to really strive for week-in, week-out on the PGA Tour next year. Meanwhile, the US can hardly overlook him in the unlikely event Bradley finishes in the top three or four places in qualifying.
That may seem improbable, but he is a major champion. He also showed, particularly in the 2012 Ryder Cup and this year’s Presidents Cup, that these events bring another side out of him. So he may not see the harm in leaving that door open for the time-being.
But surely, there are contingency plans being drawn up behind the scenes in case something has to be changed.
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