Keegan Bradley believes there is more chance of him becoming the first playing-captain of the Ryder Cup in over 60 years after snatching a dramatic victory at the Travelers Championship.
A year to the day that Bradley was offered the role to lead Team USA at Bethpage Black this September, live on Sky Sports, the 39-year-old claimed an eighth PGA Tour title with a thrilling one-shot win at TPC River Highlands.
Bradley came back from three behind with four to play to fire two late birdies and finish one ahead of Tommy Fleetwood, who bogeyed two of his last three holes to narrowly miss out on a maiden PGA Tour title.
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An incredible final hole played out at the Travelers Championship, as Keegan Bradley sensationally denied Tommy Fleetwood a maiden PGA Tour title
The win lifted Bradley to a career-high seventh in the world and inside the top-10 in the FedExCup standings, with the American accepting that victory increases the possibility of becoming the first playing captain at a Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
“I mean, listen, this [winning] changes the story a little bit,” Bradley said in his victory press conference. “I never would have thought about playing if I hadn’t won. 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 and we’ll see. It’s still June, so we’ve still got a long way to go.
“This definitely changes things a little bit, and we’ll all get together and figure out the best way to do this.”
Bradley has previously indicated that we would only consider playing in the Ryder Cup if he finished as one of the six automatic qualifiers, although he has become increasingly open to holding both roles.
“Yeah, it’s insane,” admitted Bradley, who appeared for Team USA in the Presidents Cup last September. “My whole life 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! But we’ll see. I’m going to do whatever I think is best for the team. Whether that’s me on the team – this certainly changes a lot of things.”
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Keegan Bradley holed a remarkable 65-foot birdie at the par-four ninth during his Travelers Championship victory
‘Huge burden’ for ‘fortunate’ Bradley?
Bradley revealed the possibility of being a playing captain was first discussed when the PGA of America called him last June to offer the 2025 Ryder Cup role, something he still hadn’t considered prior to his continued good form.
“My head was spinning – I didn’t know what they [PGA of America] were talking about, but they knew that that was a possibility and that we would have things in place for that [playing captain],” Bradley admitted.
Keegan Bradley has now won on the PGA Tour in each of the last three seasons
“I’m always trying to be the best that I can be and I feel like I’m playing the best golf of my career right now. 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.
“When the PGA of America called me, I’m thinking I really want to be on the team. And the first thing he [Seth Waugh, then CEO of the PGA of America] said was ‘we want you to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer’, which is a heavy burden.
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Keegan Bradley secured the winning point for Team USA during their 2024 Presidents Cup success over the International Team
“But, you know, I’m also fortunate. If Tiger [Woods] or Phil [Mickelson] or these guys got a captaincy at my age they would have done it the same way. I’ve just been lucky enough to be asked to do this at a younger age.”
When asked on the 18th green if he should be playing, Bradley responded with: “Go USA!”. It’s still to be confirmed whether Bradley’s role will extend beyond his captaincy duties
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