Keegan Bradley does not select himself for Ryder Cup, focused on full-time captain

It was the biggest talking point around the golf course of the last year, and it finally has an answer.

Keegan Bradley will not play for Team USA at the Ryder Cup in September at Bethpage Black.

The former Red Storm superstar announced his six captain’s picks on Wednesday morning in Texas, choosing Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, and Sam Burns in addition to the automatic qualifiers of Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau.

It was a decision that will be met with a lot of controversy as he appeared to prove that he was deserving of a spot on the team after winning the Travelers Championship in June.

In fact, Bradley said it was only after the victory that he started to seriously consider himself as a potential player for Team USA, but it was decided early in the process that he would be sitting out to focus on his captain duties.

Keegan Bradley said nearly a year ago when he was named as the team’s captain that he would only play if he automatically qualified on points, which takes the Top 6 players. He finished the PGA Tour season No. 11 in Ryder Cup points.

“The decision was made a while ago that I wasn’t playing,” he explained at his press conference at the PGA of America Headquarters in Frisco, Texas.  

“There was a point this year where I was playing.”

Bradley was one of the final cuts from the 2023 Ryder Cup Team, a moment which went viral on the Netflix series Full Swing but responded with a berth in the 2024 President’s Cup last season. Bradley played on the USA’s Ryder Cup Team in 2012 and 2014, amassing a 4-3 record.

“I’m glad it’s over,” he joked of the decision process.

However, while the decisions are over for Keegan Bradley, the work is just beginning for his 12-man team, which will look to regain control of the cup on United States soil beginning on September 26 at Bethpage Black in New York.