Six weeks ago, when Keegan Bradley won the 2025 Travelers Championship title — his second in three seasons, the Vermont native appeared an almost shoo-in to become the first Ryder Cup playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
But in five starts since that win in late June, Bradley had struggled, posting just a single top-25 finish (T17 at the BMW Championship, which featured a field of only 50 players). Bradley’s mediocre results seemingly put his playing hopes on life support. The Vermont native, though, catapulted himself back into the playing-captain conversation with a T7 finish at the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.
Bradley made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to shoot a closing even-par 70 for a 72-hole total of 13-under 267, five off the pace of Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who shot 68 to end a summer of heartaches with his first PGA Tour victory in his 164th start.
“I’ve been a PGA Tour winner for a long time, it’s just always been in my mind,” Fleetwood said. “A lot of close calls, but I’ve always enjoyed the challenge and really appreciate this win. I love coming to work every day, and I feel so proud to have won this tournament.”
Fleetwood, 34, is enormously popular around the world for coping with so many close calls with a refreshing perspective and joy for those who beat him. An eight-time winner worldwide and no stranger to big stages at the Ryder Cup or his silver medal at the Olympics last summer, he was constantly reminded about his failure to win on golf’s strongest circuit.
But when Fleetwood finished Sunday, there were loud chants of “Tom-my, Tom-my, Tom-my” from a mostly American audience. He removed his cap, looked to the cloudy sky, let those long locks flow as he let out a yell and then accepted congratulations from several players, including past Ryder Cup teammates.
So, it was finally Fleetwood, who won the tournament and the season-long race for the FedExCup and its $10 million reward.
No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler had 68 for 266 and a tie for fourth with Corey Conners (62) and Cameron Young (66). Then came Bradley, who said, “I’ve surprised myself with how well I played with all that’s been going on.”
Despite a steady finish, minus a watery double-bogey 5 at the difficult 15th hole, Bradley continued to remain tight-lipped about his six captain’s choices. His time and mind have been consumed with his Ryder Cup duties, but he found a way to contend in the season finale on the way to a $1,121,667 prize. Even before Saturday’s round, he said he was thinking about a message he wanted to deliver to his team during Ryder Cup week.
“I was so tired Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” Bradley said after shooting 63. “I was really just truthfully trying to get through this week. This is a bit surprising, but I really played spectacularly today. This might be my best round of the year, which I’m really proud of.
“I haven’t really particularly played this course great over the years, kind of middle of the road. When you hit the fairways out here, you can really get it, and I did that today.”
Many players and even President Donald Trump, an avid golfer who will attend the first day of the biennial competition, have supported Bradley being on the team.
“Keegan Bradley should DEFINITELY be on the American Ryder Cup Team – As Captain!!!!!,” Trump posted on social media. “He is an AMAZING guy. It will be a great Ryder Cup.”
Trump, who attended the Super Bowl in February and the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in New Jersey in July, is friendly with several prominent golfers. Two-time U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who qualified for the U.S. team, has played golf with Trump and was the only golfer whom Trump appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
Bradley, named captain the night after the 2024 Travelers Championship after not even being interviewed for the job, drew inspiration from “The Captain’s Room” in the East Lake clubhouse, a small wood-paneled facility that honors Palmer, who served as playing captain for the victorious U.S. Team in the 1963 Ryder Cup at East Lake. The room was redesigned in 2021 with the help of Palmer’s family, a shrine to his successful captaincy. Among the memorabilia in the room is his bag from that Ryder Cup.
“The Captain’s Room” was where all 30 players registered for the Tour Championship, and one player was especially interested in the room and its relics: Keegan Bradley.
Bradley knows his resume does not compare to that of one of the game’s all-time greats, but in the past few months, they’ve become inextricably linked. Now Bradley must decide if he wants to join The King as a playing captain.
“I wish he was alive and I could call him,” Bradley said of Palmer. “If I had one thing I wish I could call Arnold and talk to him because I think he’d have some great advice for me.”
Bradley, 39, was still among the game’s top players when he was named captain. His play has remained mostly at that level since his appointment, and he made the most of his last opportunity to impress himself, his assistants, his players and the rest of the golfing world.
Bradley made a site visit to Bethpage Black last Monday, had a team dinner Tuesday and then a breakfast for the Tour Championship on Wednesday. Only two players shot higher than his first-round 70, but his Friday 64 was just two off the day’s low, and no one bested Saturday’s 63.
Bradley won a Signature Event, the Travelers Championship, with a final-hole birdie that allowed him to sprint past Fleetwood. Among his five top-10s this season, three have come in Signature Events and one was at a major (T8, PGA Championship). He finished 11th in the Ryder Cup points standings, 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 16th in the FedExCup points standings.
Bradley’s decision is not an easy one, even as he has become increasingly popular with his peers. He scored the clinching point in the 2024 Presidents Cup and has spent the past year galvanizing a U.S. side that is reeling after a 16.5-11.5 Ryder Cup loss in Rome in 2023. The native of Woodstock, Vt., graduated from St. John’s University, has eight PGA Tour victories, starting with the 2011 PGA Championship, earned more than $65 million, played on the 2012 and 2014 Ryder Cup teams and was extremely disappointed when Zach Johnson didn’t make him a captain’s pick in 2023. That omission was viewed as a brutal snub by many and has sentimentality on his side.
The scene of him receiving the fateful call about not being picked was one of the most emotional moments in Full Swing’s history. But being left off the team also allows him to sympathize with the cadre of deserving players for this year’s roster. He called his captain’s picks “the hardest decision of my life.”
“He’s got a lot of tough decisions,” Harris English, one of the team’s six automatic qualifiers, said last week. “I really don’t wish that upon anybody.”
Other automatic qualifiers on the 12-man team are Scheffler, U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Henley and DeChambeau, a LIV Golf player not eligible to play on the PGA Tour but who earned enough points via the four major championships.
Veterans Cantley and Justin Thomas were invited to the team dinner, suggesting they are set to be picked. Others in solid contention are Sam Burns, Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy and the long-hitting Young, who made a late surge, winning the Wyndham Championship for his first PGA Tour title and then finishing fifth, 11th and tied for fourth in the FedExCup playoffs events.
Young, 28, is eager to take on Europe at his hometown venue and has presented a compelling case for why Bradley should select him for his first appearance, especially after closing with 66 for 266 on Sunday. When questioned about his main strengths that would benefit the team, Young said: “I think recent form is kind of a hard one to deny. Aside from that, it’s my home state, it’s a golf course I love. It’s almost exclusively a major championship venue and my major record is pretty good.
“It’s a straightforward, big-boy golf course. There’s just not much funky about it. The greens are not crazy. The fairways aren’t really, really narrow. It’s long, but it’s not the longest place in the world. But it’s just straightforward.
“It’s difficult. That’s the kind of golf that I like. I think there’s a few points that if I had to make my case to him, those are things I’d like him to know. He’s been incredibly encouraging to me. He’s obviously watching everybody very closely and he’s been very kind to reach out and show some enthusiasm and some support when I’ve played well.
“I know he’s got a lot on his plate, so I don’t expect a ton from him. But he’s been very nice to me and I appreciate any consideration he’s given me to putting me on that team.”
Bradley’s vice captains are Jim Furyk, Gary Woodland, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Kisner, and he assured everyone that they are taking all details very seriously.
“It’s been a wild year,” Bradley said. “I’m just trying to tackle what’s in front of me. I promise you we’re going to make the best decision for the team, and it’s going to be controversial either way. I’m ready for it. I know this is the biggest decision of my life.”
Bradley will announce his six picks on Wednesday at 11 a.m. on Golf Channel. European captain Luke Donald will announce his choices on Sept. 1. Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Robert McIntyre, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Rasmus Hojgaard have already qualified for the European team.
