Smylie Kaufman has issued his reaction to reports that Keegan Bradley is set to be named as the American captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup in what appears to be an extremely surprising move.
While Team Europe wasted little time in announcing that Luke Donald would stay on for a second Ryder Cup after his triumph in Rome, there was a question mark over who would succeed Zach Johnson at Bethpage next year.
For many, Tiger Woods was the number one choice. However, it was reported on Monday that Woods has turned down the chance to be captain next year. Interestingly, it was suggested that the new favourites for the role were Stewart Cink, Fred Couples and Davis Love III.
But Sports Illustrated is now reporting that Keegan Bradley is set to be appointed as the captain, with the 38-year-old previously playing on two Ryder Cup teams.
Keegan Bradley set to captain America at 2025 Ryder Cup
It is a name which few would have surely expected, with the 2011 PGA Champion not even 40 and actually not being that far away from making the team in Rome.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Kaufman suggested that Bradley has the attributes to be a fantastic captain next year.
“I got the text about it this morning, and I was thinking to myself that seems to be the direction that this US Ryder Cup team wants to go is a little bit younger, more relatable and they had that with Zach Johnson, but I’m not sure if they had quite the support for Zach Johnson that maybe they realised that maybe he needed. John Wood gets hired to be the manager of the team, we’ll see who his vice-captains potentially might be,” he said.
“Off the cuff, just thinking about Keegan Bradley as the captain, I mean Keegan is widely known for being one of the most competitive matchplay players that I can think of. I can think of multiple occasions of just the matchplay, the one at TPC Harding Park with [Miguel] Angel Jimenez, him and Keegan getting into it, so definitely a tough dude that will fight, not only for himself, but for all the guys that would be on his team. He’s had huge moments in the Ryder Cup, playing with Phil Mickelson, and I think just his tenacity and how he played, he became a bit of a Ryder Cup legend, sinking a lot of big putts, not shying away from the moment, even being a rookie, stepping up to the plate and just being a guy that could be relied upon by his teammates.
“We all saw the devastation on Netflix, on Full Swing of him getting the call from Zach Johnson, not being on the team, so part of me is like okay you didn’t make the team at Rome and maybe the PGA’s like hey, we got one thing better for you, how about being the Ryder Cup captain at Bethpage in New York which is going to be an insane atmosphere.”
It’s a bold strategy
America did face a tough call when Woods decided not to take the role. When Bradley made his Ryder Cup debut in 2012, he was just one of three American players to still be in their 20s, with Webb Simpson and Dustin Johnson the others.
Johnson taking the captaincy in the future seems particularly unlikely after his move to LIV Golf, while Simpson is surely a contender at some stage.
Perhaps Steve Stricker was worth looking at again after what happened at Whistling Straits in 2021 – however, he had been dealing with illness so may not fancy the demands of captaincy for a second time – while someone like Matt Kuchar has probably been mentioned in discussions behind the scenes.
America have opted for a younger captain, it seems. It could be an inspired move, but it is certainly a very interesting gamble.
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