The news cycle isn’t finished with Keegan Bradley.
In the lead-up to the 2025 Ryder Cup, the U.S. team captain has been a steady source of stories, most of them speculative.
Would Bradley make himself one of his six captain’s picks? (Answer: no). Whom else would he select to round out his team? (Answer: click here) How much advice would Bradley seek from the luminous likes of Tiger Woods? (Answer: a lot) Would Bradley’s buddy, Michael Jordan, make an appearance at Bethpage Black, the Long Island host site of this year’s Cup? (Ok, that last one is more about Jordan than Bradley, but you get the point: the captain’s name has been popular in print).
With the Ryder Cup slated for the end of September, plenty of time remains for Bradley to be part of the pre-event hype. And the stories won’t stop when the matches begin. Bradley’s time in the headlines is bound to continue throughout the competition, and it isn’t apt to end with the Ryder Cup itself. Post-event analyses often drag on for weeks. Plus, there’s now another Bradley-related topic to sustain the chatter well into the offseason and beyond: should he serve as captain again in 2027 when the Ryder Cup moves to Adare Manor in Ireland?
Rich Beem believes he should. The former PGA Champion made that opinion plain on a recent episode of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, in which he suggested that Team USA take a page from the European playbook by pressing repeat on the captain’s role.
“It’s been the same setup, the same vice captains,” Beem said. “I think you have to have that consistency, especially when you go away on foreign soil.”
By the “same setup,” Beem referred to 2025 European captain Luke Donald, who was at the helm two years ago in Rome when the Europeans boat-raced the Americans, 16.5-11.5. Several of Donald’s assistants from 2023 — Thomas Bjørn, José Maria Olabazal, Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari — will also be at his side this time.
Smart move, Beem said. In his view, the fact that the same brain trust is in charge is Europe’s “biggest asset.”
“There’s not going to be any difference in what they’ve been doing,” Beem said. “I think that the U.S. side should do the same exact thing. I think if Keegan’s going to be the Ryder Cup captain this time, I think you’ve got to take the same exact team as well. You have to have consistency.”
Beem’s argument boils down to: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, which makes sense in the abstract. But, of course, it’s also premature, because Bradley’s captaincy has not yet faced the ultimate test.
Will it need fixing? Should it be left as is? Time will tell. The answers will appear in your newsfeed soon enough.
