Keegan Bradley had made his six captain’s picks for the 2025 Ryder Cup, and the U.S. team captain did not make himself one of them.
Bradley on Wednesday announced his six captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup, which will be played at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., from Sept. 26-28. There were rumblings that he might pick himself after he had an excellent PGA Tour season, but Bradley has instead decided to focus solely on leading the team.
Bradley chose Ben Griffin, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young.
“I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups. I grew up wanting to fight alongside these guys and it broke my heart not to play, it really did,” Bradley told reporters on Wednesday. “Because you work forever to make these teams, but ultimately I was chosen to do a job. I was chosen to be a captain of this team and my ultimate goal was to be the best captain I could be and this is how I felt I could do this.”
"I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups. I grew up wanting to fight alongside these guys and it broke my heart not to play, it really did. Because you work forever to make these teams but ultimately I was chosen to do a job. I was chosen to be a captain of this team and my ultimate… pic.twitter.com/LXaNq65flm
— Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) August 27, 2025
The aforementioned players will join Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau, who automatically made the U.S. team by finishing in the top six of the official U.S. Team Rankings.
Bradley could have easily justified picking himself based on the way he played this season. He finished 11th in the U.S. Team Rankings, which are compiled based on a points system that factors in earnings at majors and PGA Tour events. Bradley also finished tied for 7th at the Tour Championship last week, which wasn’t factored into the rankings.
Young, Cantlay and Burns all finished below Bradley in the U.S. Team Rankings.
Bradley suggested earlier this year that he would only play on the U.S. Ryder Cup team if he were to qualify automatically by playing well. He changed his stance a bit after he won the Travelers Championship in June and said he would pick himself “if I feel like I’m going to help the team.”
Had Bradley chosen himself, he would have been the first captain to play for the U.S. team since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley played in the Ryder Cup in 2012 and 2014 and has an overall record of 4-3.
Team USA is looking to bounce back from their 16.5-11.5 loss to Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy. Ultimately, Bradley decided that it is best for the team to have someone other than him playing. The 39-year-old has still shown glimpses of the intensity he plans to bring to Bethpage.
