For the U.S. Team’s Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley, the biggest challenge ahead of the upcoming Ryder Cup is to try to keep it low. Yes, you read that right. For the youngest U.S. Ryder Cup captain, who is also seeking to be a “playing captain,” the biggest challenge is to remind himself that he cannot be both at the same time, at least according to Dame Laura Davis.
“He said he was going to play. But I’d be really surprised because it’s just two completely different roles,” said Davis earlier this year during an interview for the 19th Uncut podcast. However, Keegan Bradley’s teammates and others are hoping for the opposite. So, when the 2026 Presidents Cup’s U.S. Team captain, Brandt Snedeker, sat down for an interview at 5 Clubs, he had plenty of reasons to support Bradley’s hope to play at Bethpage this year.
“Everybody on this team wants Keegan to be on the team. I think he encompasses everything that’s great about the RYDER Cup, about team competitions, his fire, his passion. I think we saw it come through last year at Montreal, the way he played, you know, securing the Cup for us, and the amount of passion he played with. And the guys saw how he elevated his game. I think we all want to see Keegan play great golf this year, win tournaments, be the guy that we know he’s capable of being, and then deal with a great problem, you know? I think that would be a fantastic problem to have,” Snedeker expressed.
Since Arnold Palmer in 1963, the U.S. has not had a playing captain in the Ryder Cup. Although Tiger Woods served as a playing captain during the U.S. victory at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Royal Melbourne, many believe the task is too demanding. If Bradley manages to do this for the first time since 1963, he will need to delegate most of his captain’s responsibilities. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Bradley has received popular support in recent times.
The winning U.S. Team captain of the 1999 Ryder Cup, Ben Crenshaw, had a similar perspective on Keegan Bradley during a podcast appearance. Discussing Bradley’s hope of becoming the first playing captain since Palmer, Crenshaw said, “First of all, Keegan’s very competitive, really competitive. He’s playing really well.” This may be one reason for the divided responses regarding Bradley’s goal: he has played too well.
Bradley has two top-10 finishes and six top-25 finishes so far this season. Additionally, he brings valuable experience to the Ryder Cup, having participated in the 2012 and 2014 editions, where he achieved a record of 4-3. Perhaps because of this experience, the youngest U.S. Team captain since Palmer in 1963 knows how to address one of the Ryder Cup’s biggest issues.
Keegan Bradley is taking his captaincy seriously ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup
Few events in golf can inspire as much patriotism as the Ryder Cup, along with disdain and rowdy crowds that linger even after the tournament is over. Earlier this season, in January, he announced Kevin Kisner as the vice captain for this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team. Then, later that month, while the 2023 U.S. Team’s Ryder Cup captain, Zach Johnson, was playing at the Farmers Insurance Open, a fan heckled him about his leadership during the 2023 event. More than a year and a half ago, Johnson was tasked with securing the first win on European soil in 30 years; however, he failed to achieve that against Luke Donald’s European team. Undoubtedly, patriotic spirits can run high, whether the event is held in Europe or the U.S.
Bring it on Bethpage. We’ll be ready. #GoUSA pic.twitter.com/mCvFfoS5DZ
— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) April 24, 2025
The U.S. Team’s Ryder Cup captain is well aware of that, so he has come up with a few tricks. In 2024, Keegan Bradley and European captain Luke Donald held a news conference in Manhattan less than a year before the matches scheduled for September 26-28. During the conference, Bradley emphasized that security would be “monitoring the situation.”
Further, he addressed Bethpage Black, the public course on Long Island known for its rough crowds, stating that organizers will have security inside the ropes to ensure the New York crowd remains in check. Will both of Bradley’s endeavors succeed at the 2025 Ryder Cup? The coming months will reveal the answer!
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