2025 Ryder Cup: Keegan Bradley named United States captain after Tiger Woods turns role down
Keegan Bradley, 38, was named United States captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup by the PGA of America on Monday. Bradley assumes the role just over a year before the red, white and blue challenge Europe at Bethpage Black next September seeking to bring the Ryder Cup trophy back to the United States after the Americans gave it away in 2023.
“I am incredibly honored to accept this opportunity to captain the United States team at the 2025 Ryder Cup,” Bradley said in a statement. “… My passion and appreciation for golf’s greatest team event have never been stronger. The Ryder Cup is unlike any other competition in our sport, and this edition will undoubtedly be particularly special given the rich history and enthusiastic spectators at this iconic course.”
Bradley’s ascension to captain comes after that drama-filled 2023 Ryder Cup in which he was left off the team as a player. Finishing 11th in qualifying after claiming two victories during the 2023 PGA Tour season, he was bypassed by then-captain Zach Johnson as one of the team’s six captain’s selections.
“I could tell by the response from Zach [Johnson] when I answered the phone that I wasn’t on the team. … I’m super bummed out,” Bradley told Golf Channel at the time. “I thought I put together a really good year with two wins, including in Hartford over an elite field. I’m proud of what I’ve done. … I think [Justin Thomas] is a generational talent. … I’ve always been an outsider in the sport, but I have tried to get closer to the guys I thought would be on the team. … I feel like moving forward I’m going to have to automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup.”
While Bradley has two Ryder Cup appearances to his name, he has not been part of the team since 2014. It has been a crushing development for a player who lives and breathes the event and has been seeking redemption for more than a decade. Bradley was a member of the last U.S. team to lose on home soil in 2012, an event later dubbed the Miracle at Medinah. The six-time winner on the PGA Tour has compiled a 4-3-0 record in his Ryder Cup appearances.
“I am proud and excited to name Keegan Bradley as captain of the 2025 United States Ryder Cup team,” said John Lindert, PGA of America president. “Keegan’s past Ryder Cup experience, strong relationships and unwavering passion for this event will prove invaluable as he guides the U.S. team over the next year and a half. We are confident that with Keegan at the helm, the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team will compete at Bethpage with the same confidence and determination that has defined his career.”
Tiger Woods was first propositioned for the role but turned it down, according to Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig. Woods long appeared to be the clear-cut choice for the captaincy given his experience as a player and assistant at both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. However, Tiger ultimately took his name out of the running around the same time PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh announced he would not remain in his role, per SI.
Turning age 39 before the competition, Bradley will be the youngest U.S. Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer (34) in 1963.
“I think about the Ryder Cup every second I’m awake, basically,” Bradley said before last year’s BMW Championship. “My biggest thing right now is trying not to think about it while I’m playing because it’s important to me. I feel like I could bring some experience to the team. I would personally love to just be on a team with this younger group.”
