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If breaking up is hard to do, losing a Ryder Cup as a captain sounds just about impossible to do.

Well, not to do exactly — one captain has to lose, of course — but more so to process, to reconcile, to live with. Zach Johnson would tell you that. So would Padraig Harrington. And Jim Furyk. And Nick Faldo. And Tom Watson. And so many others who came up on the short end of the biennial team event that on paper is an exhibition but in reality is a contest whose participants so badly burn to win that they might trade a digit for a 1-up singles triumph. Or, in a Bradley’s case, a limb.

Forgive the gory imagery, but Bradley doesn’t just bleed red; blue and white also fill his veins. From the moment PGA of America brass surprisingly asked Bradley to take the reins on the 2025 team — the offer came in June 2024 — Bradley will tell you he went to bed thinking about the matches and woke up thinking about them. He agonized over who to pick. Who to pair together. Who to sit and when. How to set up the course. How . . . to . . . win. That was it. A singular mission. Losing was simply not an option, but then, of course, that’s exactly what happened: a 15-13 defeat to the Europeans that could have been far more demoralizing if not for a late charge by the U.S. in singles.       

The Americans were gutted. You could hear it in their meek voices Sunday evening at Bethpage. You could see it in their glazed-over eyes. But the result seemed to cut Bradley deeper than most, if not all. That much became clear a few weeks later when he opened up to AP golf writer Doug Ferguson. “You win, it’s glory for a lifetime,” Bradley said. “You lose, it’s ‘I’m going to have to sit with this for the rest of my life. There’s no part of me that thinks I’ll ever get over this.”

Ever? So much for time healing all wounds.

Bradley is in the field at this week’s Players Championship. He opened with a five-over 77, a round largely derailed by the quadruple-bogey 9 he made on the par-5 11th after his tee ball clipped a tree and disappeared. But Bradley’s not one to lay down his arms. On Friday, on the back of an eagle at the par-5 2nd and five back-nine birdies, he signed for a six-under 66 that got him back in red numbers and comfortably under the two-over cutline.

“This course is as stressful of a golf course as we play anywhere in the world,” said Bradley, who missed the cut in his last two starts and has just one top-30 finish in 2026. “Every shot is, like, brutal. So really proud of the way I played today. I really needed this round.

“I just really love this tournament and, like, to not play the weekend would be gross.”

That’s thing about Bradley. He feels. When he loves something, he really loves it. When he commits to something, he really commits. When he eyes up an all-or-nothing 8-footer down the stretch, good luck to that 8-footer.

Bradley was asked if he has felt freed up this season now that he’s relinquished his captaincy. And that’s when Bradley opened up again, with such candor that you sensed it was a question he’d been aching to answer.    

“Listen, it’s been a little difficult,” he began. “I’m still heartbroken from the Ryder Cup. So trying my best to separate myself and move on, but it’s hard. I think about it a lot. I think about the guys a lot, and I’m still in the process of getting past all that.”

What, he was asked, is he feeling exactly? Is it regret?

“No,” he said. “Unless you’re a captain of the Ryder Cup team you just have no idea what goes into it and the emotional toll that it takes on you. I think like a lot of guys that do it, they’re basically done playing, so they never again — I’m the first person to have to sort of deal with this, get back out there, try to be one of the best players in the world and make the next team. So I’m still navigating how to do that.”

You have to feel for the guy. A year ago, while managing his captaining duties, he played so well that he put himself in the awkward predicament of potentially having to use of his own wildcard picks on himself. (He chose not to.) Then came a soul-crushing loss. And now comes trying to make cuts with the weight of that defeat still very much bearing down on him.

Makes you wonder if Bradley’s only path to a Ryder Cup exorcism would come by way of a second crack at a captaincy. Then again, what would another loss to do him?

“I think any Ryder Cup captain that loses would like to do it again,” Bradley said. “But that’s not up to me.”

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The past 12 months had a little of everything — a career Grand Slam, Ryder Cup chaos and so much more. With 2026 on the horizon, our writers look back at the most memorable moments from 2025 and explain why they mattered.

No. 15 — The zero-torque putter movement | No. 14 — ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ takes golf world by storm | No. 13 — Joaquin Niemann’s big 2025 (and crucial 2026) | No. 12 — J.J. Spaun slays Oakmont | No. 11 — The Internet Invitational | No. 10 — Jeeno Thitikul’s record year | No. 9 — Tiger Woods’ next role | No. 8 — Tommy Fleetwood breaks through | No. 7 — TGL’s launch

Biggest golf moments of 2025 No. 6: Keegan Bradley’s decision

When the PGA of America surprisingly tapped Keegan Bradley as the 2025 Ryder Cup captain in the summer of 2024, the writing was on the wall for the dilemma he was about to face.

After Zach Johnson left him off the 2023 team, the PGA of America named Bradley, who had no prior vice-captain experience and was still one of the best American golfers in the world, captain, seemingly because they felt bad about what happened in Rome. At the time, Bradley said he would only be on the team if he automatically qualified. Naturally, he played great golf in 2025, won the Travelers Championship and started to move the goal posts about whether or not he’d use a captain’s pick on himself for the 2025 squad.

For months, Bradley’s decision loomed over the professional golf world. Everyone was asked about it constantly. They were asked what Keegan Bradley should do, if he could do it and what was best for an American team that would be a slight favorite at Bethpage Black. Bradley said he “agonized” over the decision, but ultimately made the selfless decision not to pick himself. In a cruel twist of fate, Bradley, who lives for the Ryder Cup, had his dream taken from him again. Despite being clearly one of the 12 best American players, he would not be teeing it up at a course he used to sneak onto while he was at St. John’s. He had a different job to do. A new dream to try and accomplish.

“I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups. I grew up wanting to fight alongside these guys, and it broke my heart not to play. It really did,” Bradley said. “But ultimately I was chosen to do a job. I was chosen to be a captain.”

But Bradley’s decision not to play wasn’t the end of the story. It was just the beginning.

The week at Bethpage saw Bradley’s flaws as an inexperienced captain but on full display. He trotted out the worst possible U.S. foursomes pairing and sent them out again after they got routed. He sent the Scottie Scheffler-Russell Henley pairing off the wrong tees and that mistake was only righted on Day 2 at the suggestion of the caddies. He admitted to making a mistake with the setup, which allowed the Europeans to roar out to a commanding lead before holding off a furious U.S. rally on Sunday.

In the end, a home Ryder Cup loss fell at Bradley’s feet. That’s a pain that can’t be erased.

“The darkest time of my life probably,” Bradley said at the Hero World Challenge about life after the Bethpage defeat. “I mean, I don’t know how else to describe it. Certainly, definitely of my career.”

Any Ryder Cup loss brings overreactions and questions. Is there any way the U.S. can compete in 2027 at Adare Manor? Do they have to completely start from scratch? What is the path back to Ryder Cup relevancy for an American side that currently seems lost?

But as Bradley’s selfless Ryder Cup decision and subsequent loss recede into the rearview mirror, the picture ahead is clearer.

We’re still just four years removed from the Americans’ resounding 19-9 win at Whistling Straits, the product of supreme talent and a successful and competent American operation that was expected to be the foundation for teams for years to come. The shellacking the Americans took in Rome, combined with Tiger Woods’ decision not to captain in 2025 and Phil Mickelson’s exodus to LIV, caused the Americans to go off the board by picking Bradley, a sympathetic figure after the 2023 snub, as a surprise captain. After that, everything that could go wrong did. Bradley was put in a position to fail and eventually found himself in an impossible situation after he unsurprisingly played well enough to be on the team, had anyone else been captain. After choosing the captaincy over making his Ryder Cup return, Bradley didn’t set his team up to succeed as his lack of experience in the American Ryder Cup system became clear.

The American failures were everywhere at Bethpage Black, and yet, the path ahead is not hard to see.

The Americans still have a talent edge on paper. The Europeans are a well-oiled machine, but it wasn’t that long ago that the Americans had seemingly learned from their opponent, solved their failures and appeared primed to have the upper hand after European dominance in the aughts. A road loss and a confluence of poor decisions led to a Bethpage disaster. But the U.S. doesn’t need to remake the wheel; perhaps it just needs to get back on the road it was on before Rome. There doesn’t need to be an overreaction to Bethpage, just a simple course correction.

Bradley’s Ryder Cup future is less clear, leaving a question hanging in the air. Will Bethpage be the end of Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup saga? Or is there another chapter to be written?

“I would love to avenge that loss, but that’s not up to me,” Bradley said about potentially being a captain again. “That’s not up to — I don’t think that’s fair for me to come out here and say that. But I would love to do it again at some point. I don’t know if that will ever happen, probably won’t. I think if you ask any losing captain if they would like to do it again, they would all want another shot.”

The hardest thing to do in life is forget. Forget your scars, your mistakes, your decisions. Forget what could have been, what might have been. Forget the wrong turns made and the roads not taken.

For Keegan Bradley, an unexpected run as Ryder Cup captain took something from him and left him hoping for a chance at Ryder Cup redemption.

We just have no idea if that opportunity — as a player or captain — will ever arrive.

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It’s been a whirlwind season for Keegan Bradley. He captured a big PGA Tour victory amid one of his best years on the course. But a devastating loss at the 2025 Ryder Cup as U.S. captain has overshadowed his personal accomplishments.

That much was clear in his pre-tournament press conference at the 2025 Hero World Challenge, where Bradley admitted the period since his Ryder Cup loss has been the “darkest time” of his life, so bad that his coach needed to remind him that he won this year.

Bradley’s Ryder Cup loss overshadows personal feats

In many ways, 2025 was one of Bradley’s best seasons on the PGA Tour. He won his eighth Tour event at the Travelers Championship in June, a Signature Event. It was one of six top-10 finishes on the year, including a T8 at the PGA Championship.

He eventually finished 7th in the final FedEx Cup standings and is 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking. And he accomplished all of that while juggling Ryder Cup captain duties.

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Bradley acknowledged as much during his pre-tournament press conference at the Hero World Challenge.

“I’m really proud of the way I’ve played. I think in a lot of ways it’s the best year of my career,” Bradley said. “My rookie year I won twice with a major, so that’s going to be tough to beat. But with everything that was going on, I’m really proud of the way that I played.”

Unfortunately, all of his achievements seemed to fade away in the aftermath of the U.S. team’s painful home loss at Bethpage Black in late September. When asked to give himself a grade for the season, Bradley said the Ryder Cup loss dropped his grade to an “F.”

“When you factor in losing the Ryder Cup, I mean, it’s an F,” Bradley said. “You’ve got to go and win that and this grade’s different. It’s really tough to grade.”

Bradley then described the struggles he’s had since the Ryder Cup, saying it was “definitely” the darkest period of his career.

“I mean, the darkest time of my life probably. I mean, I don’t know how else to describe it. Certainly, definitely of my career,” he said.

He also detailed the lasting impact the Ryder Cup has had on him, saying, “You’re just exhausted and you’re down, you know. That takes a toll on you. But there’s just, it just was, it just was a tough time. Still is.”

The loss took such a big toll of Bradley, that his coach had to remind him that he’d won the Travelers Championship just a few months earlier.

“I was talking to my coach, he said, ‘Remember, you won this year,'” Bradley said. “I was like, no, I don’t remember that at all.”

He continued: “It was a unique year. I think a year that really no other player has ever experienced. I’m proud of the way I played certainly, but the end of the year was difficult.”

Keegan Bradley comments on Ryder Cup green speed controversy

Earlier in the week, comments from U.S. Ryder Cup team member Justin Thomas on the No Laying Up podcast brought attention back to the beatdown at Bethpage.

Thomas claimed Bradley and the team “fought with” tournament organizers about the speeds of Bethpage Black’s greens during the event. The team argued they were playing slower than they had requested.

When asked about the controversy in his Hero press conference, Bradley confirmed they wanted the greens fast and that he had to trust tournament organizers in the end.

“The Sunday before the Ryder Cup, we lose control of the golf course, the home team. They were given specifications of where to keep the greens and they felt that they had done that. They did a great job,” Bradley began. “It’s so difficult to figure out. There’s so much going on and you want the greens at a certain speed and they’re telling you that they are. You’ve got to take their word for it. But the greens are so flat that it’s difficult I think to get the pace that we were looking for. But the course was in great shape.”

He added that while he wishes he could blame somebody else for the U.S. team’s Ryder Cup loss, the blame is his alone.

“You know, the Europeans, they just played so great. I wish that we could blame somebody, but we can’t. Blame me, I blame myself for that loss,” Bradley said.

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The Skins Game returns this week for the first time since 2008. Though the lineup of players doesn’t match the inaugural 1983 edition (featuring Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player), there is one wrinkle that should add some interest: Ryder Cup rivalries.

Keegan Bradley, the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, will compete for the first time since before his team’s devastating loss at Bethpage Black. And the two European players most responsible for his defeat will be his competitors.

That led Bradley to joke about his fear that trash talk from his European masters could cause him to “curl up into a ball” during a press conference promoting the event.

Here’s what you need to know.

Skins Game returns with Ryder Cup lineup

For the first time in nearly 20 years, golf fans will get to watch top pros play a big-money skins game live on TV after Thanksgiving this year. The Capitol One Skins Game, as it’s officially known, kicks off Friday, November 28, at 9 a.m. ET.

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Joining Bradley will be one of his 2025 Ryder Cup players, Xander Schauffele. European Ryder Cup stars Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who is subbing in for an injured Justin Thomas, round out the four-player field.

The match will go down at Panther National in Florida, which was designed by Thomas and Jack Nicklaus, and feature a traditional skins format plus a “reverse purse,” in which all players start with $1 million and contribute to the pots to try and take each other’s money.

While all four competitors are popular players, the main draw might end up being lingering Ryder Cup animosities. At least that was the main topic on the players’ minds in the lead-up to the event.

Bradley, Lowry preview Skins Game trash talk

On Thursday, the competitors took part in a pre-match virtual press conference, and jabs about the Ryder Cup were at the forefront.

That’s not surprising given what unfolded at Bethpage in September. Bradley’s U.S. team didn’t just get beat on home soil by the Europeans. They did so amid a chaotic atmosphere in which European players were harassed by unruly fans.

“I won’t have 50,000 New Yorkers in my ear,” Lowry joked during the press conference.

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Lowry, who secured the final half point Europe needed to retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage, was also quick to needle Bradley over his team’s loss.

“Keegan’s already paid me and Tommy [Fleetwood] extra to not talk about the Ryder Cup,” Lowry said.

But Bradley’s fears about trash talk aren’t focused on Lowry, instead it’s Fleetwood who is keeping Keegan up at night. Fleetwood is one of pro golf’s quintessential nice guys, and Bradley admitted seeing him trash talk might break him.

“If Tommy talked trash to me in a serious way, I would curl up in a ball. I’d be so scared,” Bradley joked. “That would be like horrifying.”

But there will be one big difference between the Skins Game and the Ryder Cup: instead of riding in cart as captain, Bradley will be letting his clubs do the talking at Panther National.

“I won’t have a walkie-talkie in my hand on Friday, I’ll have a golf club,” Bradley said. “Which is my chance to get back at these two maniacs down there.”

You can watch the 2025 Capitol One Skins Game on Friday via Amazon Prime.

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Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup future, the PGA Tour’s future in Hawaii, Yani Tseng’s drought-snapping win and more.

The PGA Tour canceled its season-opening Sentry at Kapalua in Hawaii, citing course conditions due to the water restrictions on Maui and infrastructure complications that come with hosting a tournament on a remote island. Our Dylan Dethier laid out why this might not be good news for pro golf’s future prospects in Hawaii. Do you agree? Should the Tour continue its two-week January run in the future?

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): Humpbacks breaching in the backdrop have been a January golf signature for so long that it’s hard to imagine the Tour without them. I hope Kapalua remains in the rota. But I thought Dylan made a compelling case for concern. As difficult as it may be to bring tournament infrastructure to Maui, it has been even more difficult to bring Rory McIlroy there, which is just another permutation of the same old challenge: how to get all the best players competing against each other in an era of fragmentation and outsized individual player power? The fact that the event has such a dedicated sponsor in Sentry and such deep roots at a distinctive venue in Maui makes me think it will stick around. But a shakeup wouldn’t come as a total shock. How’s that for a hedge?

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): They should! If only because the PGA Tour’s ability to show great events at good golf courses in unique and beautiful places is a good pathway to its continued relevance. And right now, there aren’t that many places other than Hawaii that fit that bill.

Dylan Dethier, senior writer: For the record, my understanding is that this is all very much up in the air — I don’t think it’s been decided for sure one way or the other. I personally find Kapalua such an epic locale and Hawaii such a special place that the idea of the Tour leaving bums me out. But if you were looking for [winces at word I’m about to type] efficiencies, or if you were chasing profit maximization, a relatively small local market with limited financial upside and countless logistical challenges would come under pretty intense scrutiny. But if the Tour leaves, they’ll lose some character in the process.

Zephyr Melton, associate game-improvement editor (@zephyrmelton): I can’t claim to be an expert on the ins and outs of PGA Tour scheduling, but I would venture to guess that the Sentry taking a hiatus won’t be great long-term for the event. If the tourney dates come and go in January and the event isn’t really missed, who’s to say the change won’t become permanent? The future could be grim for the historic tourney.

Keegan Bradley, in his first comments since the U.S. team’s Ryder Cup loss, opened up about the “brutal” experience at Bethpage and said he “really would enjoy playing in one more” before admitting: “I don’t know if I’ll get the chance.” Do you think Bradley has a better chance of being in Ireland in 2027 as a player or as a second stint as captain?

Sens: Neither. Maybe as an assistant captain to Tiger Woods? Bradley poured his heart into his captaincy, and I’m sure he’d do the same again, but passion for the event isn’t a qualification enough. He did a middling job. Why rehire him? Whatever happens, the fact that we are discussing this two years out is yet another example of the American gift for overthinking the Ryder Cup.

Colgan: I think he has a better chance of arriving as a player, but I don’t think his chances of either are very good. A vice captainship feels much more in line.

Dethier: Oh ye of little faith! In Keegan We Trust. One of the most passionate people in golf can channel another heaping dose of Ryder Cup frustration into a two-year triple-down and make this team. He’s never been much of a links golfer — but Adare Manor isn’t links. All good.

Melton: He can try to qualify for the team, but I think (hope) his days as a captain are behind him. Turns out that being obsessed with the Ryder Cup doesn’t automatically make someone a good captain. 

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YouTube stars Good Good Golf made two splashy announcements last week: it will serve as the title sponsor for a new PGA Tour event in Texas, and the group will also team with Golf Channel to produce a new edition of the longtime reality TV show, “The Big Break.” What bit of news piques your interest more?

Sens: Tough for me to get too excited over who is or isn’t sponsoring a tournament, though this news definitely underscores the broader ongoing cultural shift in golf. I’m more interested in checking out the reboot of “The Big Break.” Faster paced, I would think, given that attention spans haven’t gotten any longer. And probably crasser, given the drift of everything these days.

Colgan: The first. It costs a LOT of money to be the title-sponsor of a PGA Tour event (like $12-15 million, according to the latest reporting). The Fall series nature of the Good Good Championship might make that cost a little bit cheaper, but it’s still an outrageous amount of capital for a company of their size. I’m sure there’s a compelling business case, but I’m still fascinated.

Dethier: I’m mostly just fascinated by the identity shift that’s gone on here. We usually think of Good Good and its smaller-scale YouTube Golf peers as some sort of future of golf — an alternative to the PGA Tour and Golf Channel. Now they’re leaning into the PGA Tour AND Golf Channel, tapping into the past as they do. There’s power in being part of the establishment… 

Melton: I’m fascinated by the entire spectacle. I knew Good Good was big, but I didn’t think they were sponsor-a-Tour-event big. If nothing else, I’m glad to see Big Break making a comeback. Was always one of my go-to watches as a kid and I’m pumped to see how the reboot turns out.

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The aforementioned tournament (the Good Good Championship) will be played as a fall event beginning next year and take place in Austin, which not long ago hosted a regular PGA Tour stop. What does this move tell you about the future of the PGA Tour and how it plans to serve its audiences?

Sens: It’s no secret that the Tour, like golf itself, is bending over backwards to bring in a younger audience. This move is clearly in keeping with that effort. The September timing seems like a good (good) fit as well — during what used to be called the silly season, as opposed to the traditional heart of the season. It’s a smart, relatively low-risk way to try something new.

Colgan: It’s hard to make sense of the Maui event disappearance on the same week Austin returns to the schedule, but I’m glad to see one of the coolest towns in pro golf is back. 

Dethier: The Tour has been telegraphing its plans for a smaller, more meaningful main schedule. But it’s also been extending some fall events and now incorporating another. Something has to give for these visions to mesh together — and soon.

Melton: Bringing on Good Good as a title sponsor certainly signals that the Tour is looking to cater to a younger audience, but does the sponsor of an event really matter all that much? I’m not sure that the name of the event will do much to drum up interest among the younger demographic. 

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Former World No. 1 and five-time major champion Yani Tseng won a weather-shortened Wistron Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour on Sunday in Taiwan to claim her first victory in over a decade. Tseng has been open about her battle with the yips but a move to left-handed putting helped resurrect her career. Given where Tseng was years ago, how improbable was this victory?

Sens: I interviewed Tseng at her home in Florida years ago, when she was at the peak of her powers. She seemed so at ease with her life both on and off the course that I was shocked to see her go off the rails. But this comeback is even more surprising. Ten years is a long, long time to continue the struggle. It’s amazing that she kept at it, and even more amazing that she nabbed another win.

Colgan: Improbable? I don’t know. But inspiring? Yes! As someone who recently started staring at my putt’s intended destination to overcome a bad habit of yippiness, I’m pumped to learn there’s hope … even if it arrives on the other side of the ball.

Dethier: I’ve heard stories of Tseng’s darkest times, grinding through practice sessions and rounds at home where the idea of breaking 80 wasn’t realistic. To see her emerge and win? This is bigger than a story of golf resilience — it’s a small but remarkable triumph of the human spirit.

Melton: Everyone loves a comeback story, and this is no exception. The yips can be career-ending, so to see her overcome them and get back in the winner’s circle is incredible. She may never get back to where she once was as the game’s biggest star, but the achievement is impressive nonetheless. Well done to her.

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On Monday, U.S. captain Keegan Bradley was at the site of his greatest 2025 triumph, the Travelers Championship, speaking for the first time since his biggest loss of the year, the Ryder Cup. And the U.S. team’s defeat at Bethpage Black dominated the conversation.

At a media day for next year’s Travelers tournament, Bradley opened up about the “emotional” toll his Ryder Cup loss has taken on him, professed that he’d never get over it, and even questioned whether he would want to play in “this effing event” ever again.

Bradley reveals post-Ryder Cup has been ‘toughest times in my life’

Even before Bradley accepted the captaincy for the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, it was clear just how important the biennial event was to him. Look no further than his emotional reaction to being snubbed for the 2023 U.S. team, famously filmed for Netflix’s “Full Swing”.

He well knew, and explained regularly in public ahead of the tournament, that a Ryder Cup win at Bethpage Black would have been celebrated for decades and might have defined his career. On the flip side, captaining the team to a loss on U.S. soil would haunt him forever.

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He reiterated that on Monday, in his first comments to reporters since leaving Bethpage Black on the losing side.

“You win, it’s glory for a lifetime,” Bradley said on Monday. “You lose, it’s ‘I’m going to have to sit with this for the rest of my life.'”

With the outcome now settled, Bradley was brutally honest about how difficult living with the reality of losing has been over the past few weeks.

“There’s no part of me that thinks I’ll ever get over this,” Bradley admitted. “Since the Ryder Cup to now has been one of the toughest times in my life.”

The U.S. captain went into more detail, explaining how hard it was to watch the Europeans dominate the first two days of the Ryder Cup considering the years of planning and hard work he’d put in to prepare.

“You put so much into it, and you have all this planning, and the first two days went as poorly as we could have ever thought,” he said. “It was pretty emotional. It was sad, to be honest.”

But there was at least one positive Bradley took away from his Ryder Cup captaincy. Having been among the best players in the world when he was chosen as Ryder Cup captain, Bradley got the unique experience of traveling from Tour event to Tour event with U.S. fans cheering him on along the way.

“In the history of the game — back to Bobby Jones, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus — I don’t know if any of them got to experience what I experienced this year,” Bradley explained. “I got to experience something in the game of golf that I don’t think anyone’s ever experienced: where I’m the Ryder Cup captain but also competing at a very high level, and winning tournaments, and contending in tournaments. And it was really incredible.”

Bradley says Ryder Cup has been ‘so brutal to me’

In the lead-up to the Ryder Cup, the biggest question buzzing around the golf world was whether Bradley would pick himself to play on the U.S. team. He finished 11th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings and was among the top-ranked Americans in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Bradley ultimately decided against it, believing his focus should be on his duties as captain. But on Monday Bradley revealed that during practice rounds at Bethpage, he began to regret his decision.

“I’ll forever wonder and wish that I had a chance to play there. The first practice day, I was out on the tee, and I was watching the guys walk down the fairway all together, and I said: ‘I wish I was playing. That’s what it’s all about. I’m missing out,'” Bradley revealed.

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But after a few exhausting days at the Black Course, the U.S. captain realized that being a playing-captain “would have been bad.”

“By the second or third day I was like, ‘It’s a good thing I’m not playing,’ because I was so physically exhausted. … Good thing I didn’t do it because it would have been bad.”

At 39 and playing some of the best golf of his life, Bradley could easily be in the conversation for playing on the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team, or even qualify automatically for the squad.

But when asked about his Ryder Cup future, Bradley’s first reaction was to question whether he even wanted to play in the event anymore given how “brutal” it has been to him.

“This effing event has been so brutal to me. I don’t know if I want to play. No, I do,” Bradley said. “It’s such a weird thing to love something so much that just doesn’t give you anything.”

Eventually he came around to the idea.

“I really would enjoy playing in one more,” Bradley admitted. “I don’t know if I’ll get the chance.”

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The European Ryder Cup team survived a historic charge from the U.S. team on Sunday at Bethpage Black, and Shane Lowry played no small part.

Lowry sank a putt on 18 to secure a halve in his singles match and, at last, give the European team the final half point it needed to officially retain the Ryder Cup (and officially avoid the greatest collapse in golf history).

Then, long after the matches were over, Lowry posed for a photo with the Ryder Cup trophy in front of a curious quote on the wall of the European team room. Curious because it was attributed to U.S. captain Keegan Bradley.

Lowry’s final dagger at the American captain also revealed something essential to the European team strategy at Ryder Cups.

Keegan Bradley quote inspires European Ryder Cup team

Over the first two days of the 2025 Ryder Cup, the European players performed like a team out to prove themselves in the face of a slight. And it turns out that was exactly the case.

Their beef dates back to May, when an episode from Netflix’s Full Swing caught U.S. captain Bradley speaking to his players in a candid moment and dropping a quote that would provide the European Ryder Cuppers all the inspiration they needed.

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“We are gonna go to Bethpage to kick their f—ing a–!” Bradley shouted to his prospective American players.

Bradley later said at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that he was surprised his words were filmed and put in the show and that he meant no “disrespect” to the European team.

“Listen, I thought I was in a locker room with my team,” Bradley said at the Arnold Palmer. “You know, that’s what happens in a locker room. I meant no disrespect to the Europeans. This was a time that we had just won the Presidents Cup, I was in the locker room and it was my turn to address the team. And I meant no disrespect, I was more speaking to our guys.”

But Ryder Cup Europe knows how to take something like Bradley’s quote and use it to rally their players to greatness. And that’s exactly what they did at Bethpage Black.

It turns out that Bradley’s quote from Full Swing was printed on the wall of the European team room all week at Bethpage to provide their team with inspiration.

We know that because of Lowry.

Lowry drops Ryder Cup dagger on U.S. captain

On Sunday night, Lowry posted a photo to Instagram to toast his team’s win. His caption read: “Life long dream today” along with two hearts in the blue and gold colors of the European team.

But the photo he shared was of more interest than the caption.

In the picture, Lowry, uniform still soaked in champagne from the first of the European team’s celebrations on the Bethpage practice green, lounges in the European team room with the Ryder Cup cradled in his arms.

Looming behind him on the wall were Bradley’s words from Full Swing, words that he now, officially, have have lived to regret.

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Bethpage Black is one of the most challenging, grueling golf courses in the United States, which is exactly why it has that famous sign that warns golfers of the daunting task ahead.

But this week, for the 45th Ryder Cup? It was nothing like the terrifying muni locals know.

The greens were soft and receptive (and never dried out after it rained late in the week). Tees were moved up. And that gnarly rough — one of the course’s most famous characteristics — was hardly an obstacle.

So, what happened?

“We tried to set the course up to help our team,” said U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley on Sunday night. “Obviously it wasn’t the right decision.”

Bradley’s American squad lost 15-13 to the Europeans, a contest that was a laugher until the Americans stormed out in Sunday singles and turned it into a competitive final day.

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But one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to win a road Ryder Cup — which Europe did Sunday for the first time in a decade — is not just due to the hostile home crowd but because the hosting team and captain get to set up the course to their liking. That might mean chopping down rough or letting it grow. Or moving tees to have players hit certain distances into greens. Whatever captains think might give their side an edge.

Bradley decided taking some of the teeth out of Bethpage would suit his team well. Problem is, European vice captain and stats guru, Edoardo Molinari, had told people the setup played exactly into the Europeans’ favor, and it wasn’t the way he expected the U.S. to set up the course.

“I think any time you’re the leader of a team or the captain or the coach, or whatever — we talked about this last night — you’re going to get the accolades and you need to take the blame for when things don’t go well. I definitely made a mistake on the course setup,” Bradley said. “I should have listened a little bit more to my intuition. For whatever reason, that wasn’t the right way to set the course up. The greens were as soft as I’ve ever seen greens without it raining. Especially here, it can get pretty firm, and they never firmed up.”

He was then asked if the data said to cut the rough.

“We sat, or I did, and looked at a lot of info. We thought this was the best way to set the golf course up to win,” he said. “You look at past Ryder Cups, and that’s kind of how it goes. You know, sometimes, you’ve got to make a decision on what to do, and you know, if I could go back, I probably would have changed that.

“But the Europeans played just incredible golf. Doesn’t matter how you set the course up when you play that well.”

Europe did play well, holding a commanding 11.5-4.5 lead after two days and four sessions. And Sunday was all set up to be a European victory parade, but after Europe took control of a handful of matches early, it was the U.S. that wrestled a ton of those leads away. The Americans earned the first three points of the day and then needed to win all four of the remaining matches on the course to steal the Cup in stunning fashion, although they came up just short (one win, three ties).

In the final question of the U.S. press conference Sunday night, Bradley was asked if he was out-captained by Luke Donald, who has now won two consecutive Ryder Cups leading the Europeans. Justin Thomas answered first.

“We needed to make more putts,” he said. “That’s what Keegan needed; he needed us to make more putts. That’s what he needed to do.”

“I think in a lot of ways when you’re an away captain there’s a lot less decisions,” Bradley said. “When you’re the home captain, you have to set the course. I wish I could have some of those decisions back. I definitely feel I made a few mistakes there, but it’s tough to tell that it’s going to rain before the Ryder Cup. It’s tough to tell sort of the way the course is going to be when we’re here. We didn’t want the greens to be like this soft. They were perfect. And the grounds crew did an incredible job.

“I’ve got to take responsibility for this outcome for sure.”

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Keegan Bradley wants change. Luke Donald says rules are rules. 

As the Ryder Cup ended Sunday at Bethpage Black, a Ryder Cup debate may have started. Whose thought wins out on the ‘envelope rule’ should make for an interesting watch over the coming months. Or at least give Ryder Cup lovers something to soothe a hangover that starts Monday — and won’t end in full until September 2027, when the next Cup starts.

The envelope rule? That’s the Ryder Cup move should someone not be able to play Sunday singles due to injury. Instead of a team ceding the point, the sides agreed starting in 1979 that each captain, ahead of the event, would select a player to sit out — and that player’s name would be placed in an envelope only to be unsealed in the case of emergency. And Sunday, it was. Team Europe’s Viktor Hovland couldn’t go because of a neck injury, Harris English was revealed as the American envelope player, and each team was given a half-point, making the score 12-5 in favor of Europe with 11 singles matches remaining.

The discovery of English’s name alone is notable, as there’s obvious curiosity over whom captains would choose for such a spot. But then singles play unexpectedly became close on Sunday. The U.S. started chipping away at the large European lead. And maybe you started to wonder: What if Hovland weren’t hurt? What if English played? They’d actually been scheduled to play each other in Sunday’s last match. Would the absence of the half-points awarded influenced the proceedings as the afternoon unfolded as it did? With the half-point, the Europeans then needed just two points to reach the 14-point total required to retain the Cup it won two years ago — and it denied the Americans a chance at a much-needed full point. But Hovland certainly could’ve defeated English, too. Or perhaps you thought: What if the Americans were awarded a full point when Europe announced Hovland couldn’t go? Their player wasn’t the one hurt, right? 

Of course, the half-points were given, and the Europeans won, 15-13. But when asked in his post-match press conference whether the rule is something that should be re-examined, Bradley said five words.    

“Yeah, it has to change,” he said. 

Did he have any ideas as to how?

“I have a few ideas, but I’m not going to tell you right now,” Bradley said. “I mean, the rule has to change. I think it’s obvious to everybody in the sports world, in this room. Nothing against Viktor. But that rule needs to change by the next Ryder Cup.”

A short while later, Bradley left the press center, Donald entered — and he was told that Bradley disagreed with the rule, which created some laughs. He then was asked for his thoughts on how the rule impacted play and the rule in general. 

Donald talked about the two times it had been enacted previously. He also said he had faith in Hovland to play and that he was “gutted” not to. At that comment, European players cheered.  

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“The rule is the rule,” Donald said, “and it’s been in place for a long time.”

As he noted the ‘envelope’ has twice been in play. 

In 1991, American Steve Pate suffered bruised ribs in a car accident a few days ahead of the event. He sat until Saturday afternoon, but reaggravated the injury, and the call was made he couldn’t go on Sunday in a match against European legend Seve Ballesteros — and David Gilford’s name was pulled from the envelope. The U.S. went on to win 14.5-13.5. Was there controversy? At the time, European Colin Montgomerie said this: “We thought it was fishy. Injuries don’t get worse overnight.”

Two years later, a European was hurt. Sam Torrance was dealing with an infected toe, and he needed to sit on Sunday — but this time, American Lanny Wadkins volunteered to sit, and the envelope was never opened. The U.S. went on to win 15-13. 

Said Wadkins at the time: “I was a captain’s pick. The other guys have earned their way onto the team with two years of great play. I have played in eight Ryder Cups now and I don’t know how many matches, and I would hate to deprive somebody of the experience.”

As for how other team events handle injuries for singles play? 

After playing in the Presidents Cup last year and in 2013, Bradley may know their procedure: There’s an envelope. But he may be interested in how the women’s Solheim Cup proceeds. 

Teams forfeit a full point if a player is injured. 

Editor’s note: For more on the ‘envelope’ and the history behind it, click here for this story written by GOLF’s Dylan Dethier. 

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — So who’s going to be your U.S. captain in 2027, when the Ryder Cup is played in Ireland and the team is anchored by Scottie Scheffler?

Scheffler offered the answer Sunday night, just minutes after the two-point, wildly close U.S. defeat, was signed and sealed. He was being interviewed by Damon Hack of NBC Sports. Hack asked Scheffler about the American captain, Keegan Bradley. And then Scheffler, who was on four losing teams Friday morning and afternoon and Saturday morning and afternoon, got emotional. His voice cracked. For a second or two, he got stuck on his words.

And that’s when you knew. Keegan Bradley will be offered the job again by the PGA of America, and he will absolutely take it.

How can you be so sure? Because Scheffler and all the other 11 players were floored by the job that Bradley did, and because Ryder Cup captains are selected by a committee comprised of three players and three PGA of America officials. Bradley was chosen by a committee that included Zach Johnson, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. It’s likely that Scheffler will be on the committee to elect a captain for the next outing. Either way, he’ll have a loud and influential voice. Scheffler, a man who says exactly what he means, said this to Hack about his captain: “Keegan has been amazing.”

Bradley brought in the comedian Nate Bargatze to a pre-Cup, players-and-wives and extended team private performance. And Bargatze killed! The team loved it. Bradley had them loose. The Americans went 1-3 in alternate shot on Friday and again on Saturday. Bradley was too loyal to what players want: no surprises. He didn’t make some lineup changes that in retrospect might have made the difference. Those two sessions cost the Americans the Ryder Cup. But Bradley surely learned from those sessions, as defeat is life’s great teacher.

The Europeans, in Luke Donald, had the consummate professional as their captain, just as they did in Italy two years ago when they won. Donald is smooth and composed and very, very British. Bradley is the opposite in every way, and that makes him very, very American. He’s much more like the late Lou Carnesecca, the legendary and fiery basketball coach at St. John’s, where Bradley attended school. American athletes, golfers among them, like fiery. On a Ryder Cup team, the players have to like their captain. It’s a necessary starting point.

And then there was his remarkably candid remarks at a press conference Sunday night, a half-hour after the final putt of a 15-13 loss that was, for about a two-hour stretch, looking like it could be one of the most remarkable Sunday stories in golf’s long history of Sunday stories. Bradley, speaking in his let-it-all-out way, took complete and total responsibility for the American defeat, and (as you would expect) not one bit of credit for the Americans’ stunning success on Sunday.

“I definitely made a mistake on the course setup,” Bradley said. The fairways were wide, the rough was down. “I should have listened a little bit more to my intuition. For whatever reason, that wasn’t the right way to set the course up.”

The Europeans only won one of the 11 matches played on Sunday. One! That means, of course, that the Americans played well, but that also Bradley made some good, educated guesses about what the matchups might be.

“I had to learn a lot on the fly,” Bradley said Sunday night, asked what he would tell the next captain. “I had to rely on a lot of people. I was going up against an incredible team, and you know, in my eyes, I think Luke Donald is the best European Ryder Cup captain of all time. I did the best that I could, tried to balance playing, but this is the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life. I wouldn’t trade any of this for a second. I woke up every day excited to do this. It turned me into a different person that I am today that I am very thankful for these guys.”

The 12 players on the losing team clapped for their captain. This wasn’t stagecraft or a PR exercise. This was an endorsement.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.

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