One of the major subplots of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which start this week in Memphis at the St. Jude Championship, is the final push for Ryder Cup selections. In particular, Keegan Bradley’s challenge of making captain’s picks for the United States squad has gotten even tougher over the past month.
He’s fallen off a bit after his win at the Traveler’s, which thrust him into near-lock territory to become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Meanwhile, young guys like Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young have picked up wins and surged into the conversation for a captain’s pick, while longtime Ryder Cup stalwarts like Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth are further back in points.
Spieth’s spent the season trying to make up for lost time and spoke candidly in an interview with SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Wednesday about his pursuit of a captain’s pick — joking that he’s been trying to talk Bradley out of being a playing captain to open up another spot.
“It was my loftiest goal to start the season,” Spieth said. “I was coming in with almost no carryover points from [2024], which hurts and is unusual for me for a Ryder Cup year, and then obviously skipping the first month of the season I thought, ‘Boy, this would be the end goal.’ And the idea that I have a chance for it is very cool. If you told me I have a chance for it in August, I’d be excited about it.
“Having said that, I’m certainly on the outside looking in right now, and I recognize that. I keep trying to convince Keegan that it’d be a lot for him to have to play, too,” Spieth joked. “So he probably should give up that pick, even if he’s a top 10 player and a top 7 player in the world. Just seems like way too much to have to do. So, trying to open up all the opportunities I can, but I can also go take care of business myself.
“But yeah, I mean, it’d be incredible. I’ve played in five of ’em,” Spieth continued. “They’re the coolest events you can play in in the sport, and I’d love to play in another five if I can — or more. And this one will be special being at Bethpage. I played the PGA really well there and, obviously, your Long Island crowd and tri-state area coming and representing your country there would be the mecca of what you could do for a home game. But I know I’m on the outside looking in, the only way I can change that is just by focusing on setting a goal for tomorrow’s round, stay on the first tee and hit my line. It’s a shot at a time, it’s a round at a time … I’m still relying on the captains and the assistants on thinking I’d be an additive addition to the team, so that’s my goal.”
All of Spieth’s goals for the season will come to a head in Memphis. He enters 48th in the FedEx Cup standings, and a strong week can lock him into the top 50, which would put him in the BMW Championship and guarantee a spot in all eight signature event fields in 2026. While a win would certainly thrust his name further into the Ryder Cup conversation, if he can put together top 10s in strong field events the next two weeks and show some strong form, that might be enough given his Ryder Cup experience.
That said, Spieth’s two most recent appearances — both were as captain’s picks after automatically qualifying for his first three — haven’t gone all that well. He was 7-5-2 in his first three Ryder Cups, but has gone just 1-4-3 in his last two appearances. Who knows exactly how he’s viewed in the U.S. captain’s room, but all he can do is play his best golf for the next two weeks to try to make Bradley’s decision even harder.
While he may just be joking about trying to convince Bradley not to pick himself, the captain has some work to do himself on the course the next two weeks to help silence critics. If he doesn’t perform well in Memphis and Baltimore, it’ll only raise the level of scrutiny he’ll receive for picking himself.