Keegan Bradley has revealed that Tiger Woods was offered the Ryder Cup captaincy “out of the blue” and without an interview after turning down the role of Bethpage Black captain.
Bradley, 38, has been confirmed as Zach Johnson’s successor for the 2025 tournament, with the U.S. team looking to reclaim the trophy after Luke Donald led Europe to a 16.5-11.5 victory in Rome last September.
The 2011 PGA Championship winner hasn’t played in a Ryder Cup since his second appearance with Team USA in 2014. Bradley narrowly missed out on being named captain in the 2023 loss but has no experience as part of the U.S. backroom team.
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Keegan Bradley talks about how he approaches his new role as captain of the United States team for the 2025 Ryder Cup and his determination to help the US reclaim the Ryder Cup.
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Check out some of Bradley’s best shots from his years competing for the U.S. in 2012 and 2014.
Woods, an eight-time player, was the overwhelming favorite to be the next captain of the U.S. team, but Bradley admitted he didn’t even know he was in the running until he was contacted by Johnson and Seth Waugh, the PGA’s outgoing chief executive officer, last month.
“I replied [the call] “He had some pretty incredible news that I definitely wasn’t expecting,” Bradley told media. “Zach Johnson is the one who told me that I’m going to be the Ryder Cup captain in 2025.”
“I think it says a lot about who Zach Johnson is. I have so much respect for him. He was one of my idols from the first time I played on the PGA Tour and it just makes me sad to think about what he went through. And I’m so honored that he called me.”
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Xander Schauffele is pleased with Bradley’s performance and argues Tiger Woods has too much on his plate to take on the role.
Why couldn’t Tiger become captain?
The press conference confirming Bradley’s appointment also included a statement from Woods read by PGA senior director Julius Mason, in which the 15-time major winner explained his reasons for taking the job and insisted he still has aspirations to captain the U.S. team in the future.
“My new responsibilities are [PGA] “Due to touring and time constraints, I felt I was unable to devote the time necessary as captain to the U.S. team and players,” the statement read.
Woods is part of a subcommittee that is negotiating directly with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to unify men’s golf.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to captain the team in the future. When I feel like the time is right, I will be up for the decision of this committee.”
Bradley said he spoke with Woods before accepting the role, which would make him the youngest U.S. Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer in the 1960s, while the six-time PGA Tour winner is open to having former world number one Woods as part of his team.
Will Woods become part of Bradley’s behind-the-scenes team in New York?
“I’ve spoken to Tiger a bunch of times,” Bradley added, “and he’s been so helpful. Tiger’s always really helped me out. He’s got a great voice and he’s just reached out to me and helped me out. It’s been really great.”
“With Tiger, I’ve told him he’s welcome to be involved as much as he wants. We haven’t spoken about vice-captaincy and I haven’t actually spoken to anybody about vice-captaincy. As players, we all respect Tiger and his opinion means a lot to us.”
“When you’re in the same team room as Tiger, people don’t understand how important this is to him. That’s what it means. He lives and breathes this event.”
“I think the fact that he turned down the position shows how much he cares about it because he didn’t feel he could do what he needed to do with all the responsibility for what’s going on with the PGA Tour on his shoulders.”
Was Bradley’s Ryder Cup selection a surprise?
Stewart Cink and Fred Couples, who will serve as Johnson’s vice-captains in 2023, were seen as the favourites but former Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley was shocked by Bradley’s surprise appointment.
Bradley is a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, most recently winning the 2023 Travelers Championship.
“I think it’s a surprise to everyone in the golf world,” said McGinley, who serves as Donald’s strategic adviser for next year’s competition. “If you named five or six people who could be the next captains, I don’t think Keegan would be on there unless it was Tiger.”
“It’s a big leap of faith for them. [PGA of America]He’s 38, which means he’s clearly too young to be a Ryder Cup captain — typically the person chosen is 10 years older, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
“He’s a very passionate guy, a good guy, popular. He’s got a big heart. He’ll definitely bring a lot of vibrancy and energy to the captaincy, which will probably get the crowd going, so I can see the logic behind it.”
“What’s surprising is the fact that he’s so young and inexperienced and yet he suddenly became captain last year as a player and probably as part of the team.”
Sky Sports will continue to be the home of the Ryder Cup, providing exclusive live coverage of all events in 2025 for three days from 26-28 September next year. The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more will be streamed on NOW.
