The United States Ryder Cup team is officially set for Bethpage Black next month as Keegan Bradley made his six captain’s picks on Wednesday and chose not to include himself, declining to become the first U.S. playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Instead, Bradley opted for Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns to round out his team.
Given Bradley was ranked 11th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings and previously left off the 2023 team, many believed he would ultimately — deservingly — decide to represent the United States in a dual role. Especially considering the margins are thin with the Americans set to enter the Ryder Cup as a thin -130 favorite, per FanDuel. Unsurprisingly, the hottest topic after the Wednesday announcement was Bradley not selecting himself after one of the best years of his playing career.
Bradley admitted there was a brief period — after he won the Travelers Championship — that he seriously considered adding himself to the team as a player; however, as the year continued, peers like Young, Burns and Cantlay started producing to the point that it made his decision to step aside as a player relatively “easy.”
Asked how the players feel about Bradley not playing, Thomas lauded the captain for the way he’s handled the process and how every decision he’s made has been focused on the betterment of the team.
“It’s going to be said so many times between now and the end of the Ryder Cup that Keegan — he did and will continue to do whatever he feels is best for the team. That’s what he did,” Thomas said.
“It’s been a really, really cool process to be part of as a player. Everybody does it so differently and every captain is great in different ways, but the communication and how transparent Keegan has been isn’t something that we’ve experienced before. There were guys that heard things that they wouldn’t be expecting to hear — brutally honest, if you will. He’s said it himself: He’s been in those shoes of being in the dark and not knowing where you are [in the selection process].
“That’s kind of how he’s approached this entire captaincy. He wants to do whatever’s best for the team. He wants to communicate everything as well as he possibly can. I know he’s gutted [not playing]. I think all of us are gutted for him. But at the same time, him leading us to victory will be cooler than any experience he could have as a player, and that’s probably what he feels like is best for us. So we have all the faith in the world, and we don’t doubt him for one second for that.”
Bradley admitted it was a difficult decision, but he also stated — despite not announcing it publicly — that the choice not to play was made “a while ago,” not inside the last 48 hours following the Tour Championship as some suggested. Perhaps this was all part of the plan to galvanize the team as Bradley could have put his fate as a captain in his own hands with his play but instead opted to put his full faith in this group of 12.
“This whole year has been really strange, to be honest. I’ve been really surprised at the attention that this has gotten,” Bradley said. “I understand the weight and the history and all that comes with it. I was really focused on being the captain the whole year. I never really considered playing until after [the Travelers Championship, which Bradley won], and then that was really on the table for a while.
“I was really interested in being the best captain that I can be. Ultimately, I felt like I was really comfortable with the guys — extremely comfortable. I feel like I can best serve the team this way. I don’t care if I play, don’t play as long as we win on Sunday. That’s the only outcome I care about. That’s the decision we made, and it’s strange that it got so much hype, but the Ryder Cup is a big deal, apparently.”
Bradley’s decision comes with risk. Any struggles from the captain’s picks will lead to speculation that Bradley would have played better in one of their spots. But it’s been clear from these comments — as well as what Scottie Scheffler and others have said previously — that Bradley has endeared himself to this United States team in a way past captains have not given with the way he’s handled the entire process.