or what you may do afterwards really doesn’t matter.” This latter mindset captures what makes the Ryder Cup special, regardless of outcome. It’s the mindset Bradley will bring – and he has the luggage to prove it. GOLF DIGEST: Your emotional investment in the Ryder Cup has always been visible, and it’s part of what makes you so beloved by fans, but what about the burden of carrying that passion for over a decade away from the team? KEEGAN BRADLEY: It’s been tough. I made my first two Ryder Cup teams and thought I was going to play the team events for the rest of my career. Then it got to the point where not only was I not playing in them, but I was nowhere in the conversation. Something that was a huge part of my life, what I wanted to do in the game, I reached this point where I had to let it go and say I might never play in this again. Mak- ing peace with that realisation was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. GD: When that call came from the PGA offering the captaincy, was it cathartic, even odd, to dig into something you had buried? KB: I never expected to be named the Ryder Cup captain. That’s a beyond-your-dreams sort of thing. It was a shock and still is, but I have a great team around me, great vice-captains. This isn’t about me. We’re going to be prepared for what’s coming. GD: What’s one thing about this role that you had no clue about as a player, something that made you think, Oh, this is what captains actually deal with? KB: I had no idea how much goes into this. I don’t think you can until you get in this position. It’s a 24- hour job. Literally, almost every waking moment, this is on my mind. The only time I’m not thinking about it is when I’m at my real job playing golf. I understand why the role has been given to guys that were sort of at the “done-playing” end of their career. It’s been really challenging, yet also really energising and life- affirming. It’s been great. GD: Juggling all the captain responsibilities while actively competing would seem a likely detriment to one’s game, yet it appears to have had the oppo- site effect on you. KB: Well, first off, no one’s really ever been in my po- sition. If you gave this job to Tiger or Phil at my age, they still would’ve been the best players in the world. Maybe part of what has helped me, when I’m outside the ropes not playing, is that I’m focused on the Ry- der Cup versus what’s wrong with my game or what I got coming up, a tough hole or some shot I have to hit that week. That, in a weird way, has helped. GD: B uilding relationships is essential to the role of captain. As much as you might enjoy the added camaraderie, how do you navigate getting closer to players while knowing you might have to look them in the eye and tell them they didn’t make the team?
answer to why Keegan Bradley was named Ryder Cup captain is buried in a suitcase that has remained sealed for over a decade. Bradley made a vow never to unpack his luggage from the 2012 Ryder Cup until he was part of a winning American team. This story re- surfaced in 2023 when he desperately hoped to make his third US Ryder Cup team – his first since 2014 – only to be snubbed when captain Zach Johnson an- nounced his picks. The perception exists that as a group, the US players don’t carry the same searing hurt as their European counterparts. Winning is wonderful, but losing means simply shrugging and moving on to the next event. Bradley was the exception. That’s why Bradley is exactly what Team USA needs. His love for the competition stands in stark contrast to the reported player unrest over money that sur- faced on the American side at Marco Simone in 2023, against the broader backdrop of greed that has defined golf’s civil war between the established tours and LIV Golf. The Ryder Cup remains arguably the only time golf achieves true communal appeal. In Bradley, fans have found someone who cares about the Ryder Cup as deeply as they do. However, Bradley has complicated matters with his remarkable mid-career revival, climbing into the world’s top 10 and capturing the Travelers Cham- pionship. When he spoke to Golf Digest in July, the prospect of being a playing captain – the first since Arnold Palmer in 1963 – felt less like possibility than inevitability. This decision adds intrigue and pressure, raising questions about Bradley’s ability to both lead and perform. Where it will take place only amplifies the stakes. Bethpage Black, the course Bradley called home during college, boasts a shaky record when it comes to crowd control. A lasting memory from Rome was the stark contrast between messages from team leaders. Captain Zach Johnson told his team to “remember who they are,” while European captain Luke Donald instilled in his team the need, in these words relayed by Jon Rahm, “to walk through the gates and doors and forget about who you are outside of this week. What you have done
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