The 2025 season was a big one for PGA Tour veteran J.J. Spaun. He captured his first major by winning the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Then, as a rookie at the 2025 Ryder Cup, Spaun’s stellar play was one of the few highlights from the U.S. team’s devastating 15-13 loss at Bethpage Black.
One of the biggest controversies coming out of the Ryder Cup (that didn’t involve rowdy fans) was why Spaun was benched for both Friday and Saturday foursomes matches, in which the European team dominated the Americans.
While some have suggested captain Keegan Bradley left Spaun on the bench because of his golf ball, that turns out not to be the case. Spaun revealed the real reason he only played three matches at Bethpage Black in a recent podcast appearance.
But that’s not all. He also claimed that the entire team wanted Bradley to be a playing captain, and that Bradley deserves to be captain again, just maybe not in 2027.
Spaun explains why he was left out of Ryder Cup foursomes
The first two days of the 2025 Ryder Cup were a tale of European domination, but it was the foursomes sessions specifically where they ran up the score.
Europe dusted the U.S. 3-1 in both foursomes sessions on Friday and Saturday morning, making a Sunday comeback all but impossible (though the Americans nearly pulled it off anyway).
Spaun, who finished second in the U.S. Ryder Cup rankings and is in the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, was benched for both of those matches.
When he played great despite a loss in Friday’s four-ball, and then won his Saturday four-ball and Sunday singles matches, many questioned why Bradley hadn’t let Spaun play in foursomes.
In an appearance on Trey Wingo’s Straight Facts Homie! Podcast after the Ryder Cup, Colt Knost claimed Spaun knew he wasn’t going to play foursomes at Bethpage because he was the only member of the team who plays a Srixon golf ball.
But in his own recent guest spot on Wingo’s podcast, Spaun revealed that he was surprised he didn’t play foursomes, and that Bradley’s real reasons boiled down to wanting experienced Ryder Cuppers in those matches.
“Maybe a little bit,” Spaun said, admitting he was surprised to ride the bench at Bethpage. “I wasn’t sure what format I would start in. I talked to Keegan [Bradley] a few weeks prior, and he was adamant about having a pretty veteran-heavy lineup going out in the first match, which was foursomes.”
He continued, explaining that his equipment was not the culprit:
“So, it had nothing to do with how I was playing, had nothing to do with what equipment I played,” Spaun said. “He wanted to put guys out there first that have been in that arena, and have had success, and have the experience versus getting my feet wet in four balls, which is probably an easier format, I think, was appropriate.”
That’s his explanation for not playing Friday foursomes. But Spaun is less sure why he was left out again when Bradley made his pairings for Saturday’s foursomes matches, which included trotting out the team of Collin Morikawa and Harris English again after they were drubbed in Friday’s session.
“But who knows? I don’t know what the thought process was for Saturday’s matches, but I think Keegan didn’t want to freak out and start changing things around, just assuming, put the batting lineup out there, and eventually get things turned around,” Spaun told Wingo. “I thought there would be a little bit of a change, whether it was someone else — I think Cam [Young] was the only one who subbed in for the foursomes on Saturday that was different, maybe.”
Ultimately, Spaun argued that lineup changes wouldn’t have made a difference because the entire European team was playing incredibly well on Friday and Saturday, especially on the greens.
“Honestly, though, the European team were playing so good. They were putting amazing. They were shooting eight under par on alternate shot, which, that’s just so hard to do.”
He used his loss alongside Scottie Scheffler in Friday four-balls as an example, explaining that at one point he and Scheffler made five-straight birdies … and didn’t win a hole.
“It boiled down to the putting … they just outright beat us Friday and Saturday and, unfortunately, we were just too far behind going into Sunday.”
Spaun says U.S. team wanted Keegan Bradley to play in the Ryder Cup
Another hot topic of Spaun’s interview with Wingo was Captain Bradley. The biggest question leading up to the event was whether Bradley would use one of his captain’s picks on himself and play on the team in addition to serving as captain.
In the end, Bradley decided it was best to focus on his captain duties, despite being one of the top American players.
But that wasn’t what the players on the U.S. team wanted. According to Spaun, they tried to convince Bradley to pick himself.
“He was put in a tough spot. The whole team really believed he should have been on the team. And we tried to almost talk him into it,” Spaun revealed.
And it got down to the wire before Bradley decided to go against their wishes.
“It got down to really close to before he had to make picks. He thought about it that long to where he had to finalize the lineup. We all said, ‘if you weren’t the captain and you’re sitting here No. 10 in the world, is that captain going to take you?’ Of course, 100% of the time,” Spaun said.
Spaun also said that he has so much respect for Keegan because he did “triple the amount of work” as normal captains, due to the fact that he was still playing and competing at a high level on the PGA Tour.
But should Bradley be captain again? When Wingo asked Spaun that question, he said, “I think [Bradley] deserves another chance,” but suggested the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor might not be the right time.
“I think it would be the ultimate redemption if he played his way on [to the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team], played and then maybe two years later he captained and won,” Spaun imagined. “That would be the ultimate comeback.”
Spaun feared ‘letting down his teammates’ at Ryder Cup
Another topic of conversation in Spaun’s appearance was what the experience was like playing in his first Ryder Cup.
He admitted that from the moment Bradley told him he’d be on the team following his U.S. Open win, the Ryder Cup dominated Spaun’s thoughts, and he experienced a huge amount of stress.
“Ok, so I was stressed for the Ryder Cup … From that point on all I could think about was the Ryder Cup, how I’m going to perform, am I going to be ready? Can I handle this? Honestly, leading up to it was so much stress. I tried to put it in the back of mind … but it just consumed so much of my mental space … the Ryder Cup was the only thing I could think about,” Spaun explained. “I was worried that I wouldn’t play good because I don’t have an issue with me playing poorly and letting myself down. But here I am on the Ryder Cup team and you can let down your teammates, your country, your captains, and I’m just like ‘I don’t know if I’m ready for this.'”
So how did he end up playing so well? It turns out Bradley and fellow teammate Justin Thomas spoke with him when he got to Bethpage, explained that he earned his spot on the team and reminded Spaun that he and Scheffler were the only players on the U.S. team who had won majors in 2025.
Despite the pep talk, Spaun said he felt a lot of nerves when it was time to tee it up.
“Yes, I was very nervous on the 1st tee. I was nervous on every shot, literally.” But following his first match, a loss, he “calmed down.”
In the end, Spaun finished with a 2-1-0 record and nearly helped the U.S. pull off a historic comeback on Sunday. But he also assured his spot on future U.S. teams, where it would be unwise to sit him out of any matches.
You can watch Spaun’s full appearance on the Straight Facts Homie! Podcast here.
