US captain Bradley open to Ryder Cup playing role
Keegan Bradley has won the Travelers Championship twice in three years [Getty Images]
US captain Keegan Bradley says he will have a "hard look" at whether he should play in September's Ryder Cup after his dramatic one-shot victory in the Travelers Championship on Sunday.
Bradley, 39, birdied the last hole of his final round in Connecticut to deny England's Tommy Fleetwood his first PGA Tour title.
Advertisement
Victory moved him seventh in the world rankings and ninth in the American Ryder Cup qualification standings. The top six in the latter qualify automatically for the event in Bethpage, New York, with another six players given captain's picks.
Arnold Palmer was the Ryder Cup's last playing captain, when he led the US team aged 34 in 1963.
"It's still June so we have got a long way to go [but] this definitely changes things a little bit," said Bradley - the youngest captain since Palmer.
"This definitely opens the door to play. I don't know if I'm going to do it or not but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what's best for the team.
Advertisement
"Every year I was out here, I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team, and then this would be the first year where maybe I didn't want to. I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, this is what happens."
Bradley's most recent Ryder Cup appearance was in the defeat at Gleneagles in 2014, having also played on the losing side two years earlier.
He missed out on a place in 2023 when Justin Thomas, who was below him on the points list and struggling for form, was preferred by captain Zach Johnson
Bradley was named captain this time after Tiger Woods turned down the opportunity.
He insisted he would not give up the captaincy if he did make the team but could take on a dual role with the help of vice-captains Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner and Jim Furyk.
Advertisement
"I never really planned on playing," he said. "Now, with the amazing vice-captains I have, I feel a lot more comfortable if I went that route.
"I had this epiphany at the PGA Championship when I was getting these loud 'USA' cheers.
"I don't think any player in the history of the game has experienced what I'm experiencing in that I'm a Ryder Cup captain, in my eyes still one of the best players in the world trying to win majors and tournaments, coming down the stretch of a tournament."
Bradley said when he was asked to be captain, the first thing the PGA of America told him was they wanted him to be the first playing captain since Palmer.
Advertisement
"My head was spinning," he said. "I didn't know what they were talking about, but they knew that was a possibility and that we would have things in place for that.
"A year ago I don't know if I would have thought I would be seventh in the world but I certainly thought I would be contending in tournaments."
How can Bradley play at the Ryder Cup?
The top six players following the BMW Championship on 17 August 2025 will automatically qualify for the US team.
World number four Justin Thomas is sixth in the US Ryder Cup rankings on 9,997.69 points, with Bradley ninth on 7845.22.
Advertisement
Bradley has the opportunity to boost his rankings with 10 more tournaments to be held before the deadline, including the year's final major - The Open at Portrush.
Players making the cut receive one point per $1,000 earned at Tour events, which rises to 1.5 points per $1,000 earned at the Open.
The other six players in the US Ryder Cup team will be chosen by Bradley as captains' pick. These are announced in August following the Tour Championship, which finishes on 24 August.
If Bradley does not qualify automatically, he could in theory pick himself.
Captain's picks were introduced for Team Europe in 1979 and for the US in 1989.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
17 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Hard work and 35,000 practice shots pay off for Clarkson defenseman Haley Winn entering PWHL draft
As accustomed as Matt Desrosiers was to seeing defenseman Haley Winn take one attempt after another at the RapidShot machine inside Clarkson's training facility during her freshman season four years ago, the Golden Knights coach was stunned upon learning the final tally. How does 35,000 shots sound? 'We actually had people from RapidShot grab us at the coaches' convention and tell us they hadn't seen anything like it,' Desrosiers said. 'And that's not including the pucks she went on the ice and shot extra, too. She's just the most dedicated athlete we've been fortunate enough to have.'
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of NBA Finals, per multiple reports
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon during Sunday night's Game 7 of the NBA Finals, according to multiple reports. The news – first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania – builds on what Haliburton's father told ESPN's broadcast during the game, which was that the point guard had suffered an Achilles injury. CNN has reached out to the Pacers for comment. Haliburton's injury was a brutal moment. Starting the game with three 3-pointers, Haliburton was talking trash to the Oklahoma City crowd, bouncing around like a ball of energy and looked ready to put his team on his back in the biggest game of his life. But with about five minutes to go in the first quarter, he made a quick move and planted his right foot onto the court. In slow-motion replays that were eventually shown repeatedly throughout the broadcast, the snap of his Achilles tendon was clearly visible, and he crumpled to the floor. Haliburton immediately looked distraught, pounding the court and appearing to yell, 'No!' repeatedly. Adding to the pain of the moment was the fact that Haliburton had said after a dominant Indiana win in Game 6 that he wasn't going to let an injury stop him from playing and that he knew the risks – but wanted to play on the biggest stage. 'I want to be on the floor, and if I have the ability to, if I can – like I said, if I can walk, I want to be out there,' Haliburton said after Game 6. 'I just want to be out there with my brothers to compete. Yeah, those guys have my back, and I feel like I have theirs at the same time. You know, that was important for me.' The look on Haliburton's face as he was treated on the floor said it all. Much as when Kevin Durant ruptured his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals, he appeared to know his night – and potentially all of the 2025-2026 season – was done. He was helped off the court with a towel covering his head. For a time, his team rallied without their star. The Thunder and their fans at Paycom Center actually appeared to be the ones most affected by the injury as the eventual champions looked flat and listless for much of the second quarter while the Pacers played inspired ball. 'You just hate to see it in sports in general, but in this moment, my heart dropped for him. I couldn't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It's not fair. But competition isn't fair sometimes,' said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder star who would be named the Finals MVP. But after the halftime break, the adrenaline wore off for Indiana and the Thunder returned to their normal, world-beating selves. A massive third quarter sparked a romp to victory for OKC as the Pacers could only be left wondering what might have been if Haliburton had been out on the floor. It was clear how much the game took out of the Pacers as they came off the floor following the game. Haliburton was shown on crutches, hugging his teammates as they came off the floor. Multiple Pacers were in tears as the emotions poured out. 'We needed Ty out there. He's been good for us all year, and for him to go down in the beginning of the game like that, it like it sucked the soul out of us,' Pacers forward Obi Toppin said. Said Indiana star forward Pascal Siakam: 'He did some incredible things, like this whole playoff run and this year, and yeah, like I'm just super proud of him. Obviously, it hurts because we couldn't get it done, and I wanted it so bad for him just because I know that he gave us everything, you know, everything he had. It just hurts that he couldn't see it through with us.' Haliburton was the key to the Pacers' impressive playoff run, hitting big shots over and over as Indiana looked undeniable at points. He produced one of the signature moments of the playoffs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals as he led the Pacers on a massive comeback in the final minutes against the New York Knicks, eventually hitting a tying shot as the buzzer sounded to send the game to overtime – and mimicked Reggie Miller's famous 'choke' celebration on the Madison Square Garden floor. Indiana eventually won that game in overtime. In the Finals, he recreated those heroics by helping to engineer a comeback win over the Thunder on the road in Game 1. He hit a mid-range jumper with 0.3 seconds to go in the game to give Indiana its only lead, stealing the series opener on the road. After being named the most overrated player in the league by his peers earlier in the season, Haliburton seemed to be on a mission to prove all the doubters wrong in the playoffs. He also hit game-winning shots to beat the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers in the earlier rounds. 'I can't imagine how he's feeling. He's having an amazing run to even get to this point, and for it to end like that, it's heartbreaking,' Pacers center Myles Turner said. Haliburton now faces a long layoff that tosses the Eastern Conference next year into uncertainty. Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard and Boston Celtics lynchpin Jason Tatum also suffered the same injury during these playoffs, and it's unknown how their teams will react to the long-term injuries.
NBC Sports
19 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Bradley recaps 'special' Travelers Championship
Check out the best soundbites from the 2025 Travelers Championship, including tournament winner Keegan Bradley, Tommy Fleetwood and Russell Henley.
