Who is Keegan Bradley? USA’s new Ryder Cup captain and two reasons why he fits at Bethpage Black

The United States have sprung a surprise in unveiling Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship winner, as their Ryder Cup captain as they bid to win back the biennial trophy at Bethpage Black last year.

A disastrous weekend in Rome meant that Team USA were almost certain to move on from Zach Johnson for their return to home soil, but Bradley had been on the radar of few as a potential captaincy successor.

Indeed, it seems the role would have been Tiger Woods’ for the taking had the 15-time major champion been willing to perform the duty — reports suggest that Woods turned down an invitation to skipper the hosts amid concerns over the workload it would entail.

And so it is to Bradley that the PGA of America have turned. “I am incredibly honored to accept this opportunity to captain the United States team at the 2025 Ryder Cup,” said Bradley, part of two losing United States teams as a player in 2012 and 2014, in a statement. “I would like to thank the PGA of America Ryder Cup Committee for their trust in me as we embark on this journey to Bethpage Black.

“My passion and appreciation for golf’s greatest team event have never been stronger. The Ryder Cup is unlike any other competition in our sport, and this edition will undoubtedly be particularly special given the rich history and enthusiastic spectators at this iconic course. I look forward to beginning preparations for 2025.”

It is an appointment that has come out of left field. Recently having celebrated his 38th birthday, Bradley is relatively young for a Ryder Cup captain, and still a good enough player to occupy a spot in the world’s top 20. He is yet to serve as a vice-captain as an event, the favoured pathway through which both the US and Europe groom their future leaders. Stewart Cink, Steve Stricker, Davis Love III and Fred Couples all seemed likelier candidates if Woods, as had become the expectation, abdicated.

So why have the United States settled on Bradley? Certainly, local knowledge has counted in his favour. While born in Vermont and raised in New England, Bradley’s collegiate career came at St John’s University in Queens, just half an hour from Bethpage Black. On Mondays, when the course would close to the public, Bradley and the rest of the Red Storm’s golfers would sneak onto the famous fairways, playing the holes farthest from security personnel and public areas thanks to an unofficial agreement with the course superintendent.

“It was just so special to go out there and play,” said Bradley ahead of the 2019 PGA Championship, held at Bethpage. “We were all so grateful for the superintendent letting us play. He used to give me a hard time whenever I talked about it, but the secret was out and it’s hard not to talk about it.

“We’d play in one group, seven, eight, nine of us, and we’d play as much as we could. It was so fun. I’m not sure many people ever got to do that, to have that great a course to themselves.”

There may also be a thought that Bradley can be a unifying figure. His continued presence on the PGA Tour ensures familiarity with those in contention, while he may also break up the boys’ club that some felt undermined the United States’ campaign in Italy. It was Bradley himself who suggested that internal politics played too focal a role in Johnson’s selection at Marco Simone Golf Club after narrowly missing out on a wild card spot despite having won the Travellers Championship last summer.

“The reality for me is I don’t have this connection to that group that a lot of guys have,” Bradley explained on Netflix’s Full Swing, which revealed just how disappointed he had been to be snubbed. Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler were all close to Johnson and earned selection; Bradley, less chummy with the captain, did not.

Amid golf’s ongoing schism, his relatively soft stance on those who joined LIV Golf may also be of pertinence. Bradley has eschewed the statements of condemnation and censure that others have directed towards rebels, suggesting he understood why those who joined the Saudi-backed series did so, and praising the format. Close friends Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale were among those to leave the PGA Tour. Rebuilding relationships could be key to Ryder Cup success in 2025 if golf’s fractures begin to heal.