U.S. Ryder Cup team needs Keegan Bradley as a captain and player

• Keegan Bradley, captain of the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, is playing some of the best golf of his career and is ranked 7th in the world.

If a golfer were inside the top 10 in the world and just outside the top 6 automatic qualifiers, he would be a slam dunk for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Now, if that golfer is captain of the 2025 team and vowed early on he would be on the team only if he qualified, and would not pick himself …

He still should be teeing it up at Bethpage Black in September against the Europeans.

Keegan Bradley has put himself in an intriguing spot. The man who has become known as Captain America since the PGA of America surprisingly named him captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team is playing the best golf of his life.

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And this from a man who entered the season with seven career PGA Tour wins, including the 2011 PGA Championship.

Bradley, 39, has one win (Travelers Championship), five top 10s (one off his career best) and nine top 25s (two off his career best) this season. He is No. 7 in in the world, his highest-ever ranking.

“Yeah, it’s insane,” Bradley, the Jupiter resident, said in June after winning the Travelers. “My whole life every year I was out here I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team and then this would be the first year where maybe I didn’t want to.

“I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, you know, this is what happens.”

Bradley is ninth in the Ryder Cup standings. The top six automatically qualify for the team and the last six are chosen by the captain. The last U.S. Ryder Cup playing captain was Arnold Palmer in 1963.

While Bradley likely needs another strong finish or two in the remaining high-profile tournaments — British Open and two playoff events — to crack the top 6, he’s in a good spot to finish in the top 10 of the standings.

In 2023, captain Zach Johnson chose the Nos. 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 in the rankings to fill out his roster.

Bradley has been on two Ryder Cup teams (2012, 2014), both losing. He has a 4-3-0 Ryder Cup record. Perhaps not playing with that pressure of wanting to make the team has relieved that burden and contributed to this run.

Now, he needs to be sure he’s part of a team that should be highly motivated to avenge a humiliating performance two years ago, in front of what is expected to be a rowdy and partisan gallery on Long Island.

The U.S. Ryder Cup team will be better with Keegan Bradley on the playing roster. And for reasons beyond the state of his game.

Keegan Bradley a good fit for Ryder Cup team as player, too

Bradley is an emotional player who brings energy. And if nothing else, Bethpage Black on the final weekend of September will be as energized as we’ve ever seen on a golf course.

Bradley’s passion was on full display during his speech after the U.S. won the Presidents Cup in September and it was aired on “Full Swing” in February.

“I’m gonna get criticized as the captain next year,” Bradley told the team in the locker room. “They’re gonna underestimate me. They’re gonna doubt me. I’ve been doubted my whole f—— life. That’s when I do my best work.

“We’re gonna go to Bethpage to kick their f—— ass.”

Bradley later said he “meant no disrespect” to the Europeans, something he had to say but …

Really?

What set the stage for a highly-anticipated 2025 Ryder Cup was Europe’s win two years ago on home turf, one that included controversy, a raucous crowd and European team that unapologetically celebrated long into the night.

The team was captured dancing and singing “the U.S.A. is terrified, Europe’s on fire” on the bus ride from Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome. The chant was led by Jupiter neighbors Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

Jim Furyk has experience leading Ryder Cup teams

Bradley’s vice captains — Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner — are well positioned to pick up any slack necessary if he is competing.

“I really wanted to just be the captain,” Bradley said. “I really felt strongly about that. Now, with the amazing vice captains that I have, and I have a better perspective of playing in the Presidents Cup and being around a lot of the guys, I feel a lot more comfortable if I (played).”

Furyk would be best suited to take on a larger role with Bradley competing. Aside from playing on nine Ryder Cup teams, Furyk was the 2018 captain and a vice captain in 2016 and 2021.

Furyk also captained the winning 2024 U.S. Presidents Cup team that included Bradley along with at least four players certain to be on the U.S. team in September: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa.

Bradley could play one session each on Friday and Saturday before Sunday’s singles and still be the final voice in setting the pairings for each session.

“When they called me and told me that I was being the Ryder Cup captain, the first thing they said was, ‘we want you to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer,’ ” Bradley said. “And I mean my head was spinning, I didn’t know what they were talking about. But they knew that was a possibility and we would have things in place for that.”

Now, when Bradley announces the team in late August, that should become a reality.

Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.