It may be a little unfair, considering the year he’s had on the course, but it’s easy to understand why Keegan Bradley is judging his 2025 the way he is.
“When you factor in losing the Ryder Cup, I mean, it’s an ‘F,'” Bradley said Tuesday from the Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods’ unofficial event in the Bahamas, when he was asked to give himself a letter grade for the season.
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Harsh.
Bradley, remember, had a bit of a resurgence as a player this past season on the PGA Tour. He won the Travelers Championship, which marked his eighth career Tour win, and had six top-10 finishes while climbing up to as high as No. 7 in the Official World Golf Rankings. That was the highest he’s ever been in his career.
He even played himself into the Ryder Cup conversation and was close to becoming the first playing captain in decades this past fall at Bethpage Black, though he opted to stick to his captain role instead.
Outside of 2011 — when Bradley won his first two career titles and his only major championship title — one could pretty successfully argue that it was the best season of Bradley’s playing career.
“I’m really proud of the way I’ve played,” he said. “I think in a lot of ways it’s the best year of my career. My rookie year I won twice with a major, so that’s going to be tough to beat … It was a unique year. I think a year that really no other player has ever experienced.
“I’m proud of the way I played certainly, but the end of the year was difficult.”
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‘The darkest time of my life’
But then came the Ryder Cup.
The U.S. team under Bradley’s leadership was largely steamrolled by the Europeans earlier this fall. The final score looks much closer than it was — the United States made a truly remarkable rally during the Sunday’s singles matches and briefly looked like it could mount a comeback — but Europe was in control for the first two days before hanging on to grab what was its ninth win in the last 13 outings.
While few American captains have found success in the last few decades, a lot of the blame has been placed on Bradley’s shoulders, fair or not.
“[It was] the darkest time of my life probably,” Bradley said. “I mean, I don’t know how else to describe it. Certainly, definitely [the darkest] of my career.
“There’s always this letdown after a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup regardless of the outcome because the emotions are so extreme … It was just a tough time. Still is.”
At just 39, there is plenty of time in Bradley’s career to lead a Ryder Cup team again in the future. He’d say yes, if asked.
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But Bradley is realistic.
“Of course I would love to do it again,” Bradley said. “I would love to avenge that loss, but that’s not up to me … I don’t know if that will ever happen, probably won’t.”
What about Tiger Woods?
Though he’s recovering from yet another back surgery and not playing this week in the Bahamas, Woods was asked about the 2027 Ryder Cup and potentially pursuing the captain role for that event in Ireland.
“No one’s asked me about it,” Woods said plainly.
Even though a formal conversation may not have been had, Bradley is convinced that the job is Woods’ if he wants it, whenever he wants it.
“I think if Tiger wants to do this, he’s going to do it,” Bradley said. “Tiger is not only a hero to all of us that would be on his team, but he’s also an incredible leader and a person that everyone would love to play for. But I’m pretty sure when he wants to do this, he’s going to get to be able to do it.”
