Keegan Bradley has gone against the wishes of President Donald Trump by deciding not to pick himself for next month’s Ryder Cup match against Europe.
Despite expectations on both sides of the Atlantic, the world No 11 ultimately settled on Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns to augment his automatic qualifiers for the showdown at Bethpage Black.
They will join Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau on the US revenge mission after defeat in Rome two years ago.
Of all those decisions, Bradley’s call to omit himself is by far the most significant. There has not been a playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 and golfing luminaries including Rory McIlroy, Sir Nick Faldo and Tom Watson believed replicating it in the modern era would be impossible.
Weighing against that has been Bradley’s form. With six top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour since his shock appointment in July 2024, and a win at the Travelers Championship earlier this summer, he was plainly one of the best 12 for the task.
But Bradley eventually refused to bow to expectations, which only increased when Trump posted on social media last week that he ought to play.
Keegan Bradley has made the bombshell decision not to pick himself for the Ryder Cup
Team USA will take on Europe – captained by Luke Donald – at Bethpage Black in New York
Bradley, who was left heartbroken after narrowly missing out on Zach Johnson’s team in Rome, said: ‘This was a really tough decision. I would say there was a point this year that I was playing, but all these guys stepped up. It was extremely difficult but I am very happy with these six players. I am glad it is over!
‘I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups and fighting alongside these guys. But I was chosen to be captain and my ultimate goal was to be the best captain I could be. If I felt the team was better with me on that, I would do that. These six guys played incredibly down the stretch and made my decision easy.
‘I feel I can best serve the guys this way. It is strange the decision got so much hype but the Ryder Cup is a big deal apparently.’
Speaking about Trump’s call for him to play, Bradley added: ‘That was surreal, I’ve been blown away by the support, when you get the support of the President, it’s surreal, I appreciate it, I hope you’re not disappointed.
‘I look forward to seeing him at the Ryder Cup. When you see that, you wonder how you got to that point your life, I was deeply honored that he said that.’
The narrative around Bradley has served to heighten the sense of chaos around the US team, which also included negotiations around being paid to play. Player-power won that particular day with each man in line for $500,000.
The captaincy issue itself has been subjected to an impression of disarray, with Tiger Woods the first-choice option before Bradley was called out of the blue 59 weeks ago.
The 39-year-old was as stunned as anybody, and as the world No 19 at the time, his chances of a selection dilemma were obvious.
Sam Burns (L) and Patrick Cantlay (R) made the team alongside Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin and Cameron Young
While the greatest imperative of the captaincy role comes down to the selection of the team, and has therefore been completed weeks in advance of the teams getting to New York, certain key roles on-site would have been formidably difficult.
Prime among them would be the ability to make decisions ahead of the afternoon sessions on Friday and Saturday, given the pairings have to be handed in while the Morning play is ongoing.
In addition, the fatigue accumulated in the wider of circus of commercial and media responsibilities would have been a factor. Bradley has therefore made a smart choice.
Among the other prominent names to miss out are former Open champion Brian Harman, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Maverick McNealy and Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup.
