After months of debate, Keegan Bradley is not picking himself. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain announced his final six captain’s picks for next month’s cup on Wednesday, and Bradley left himself off the team.
The six spots instead were given to Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Cameron Young and Ben Griffin.
They will fill out a team that already includes automatic qualifiers Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley and Harris English to face Europe next month at Bethpage Black in New York.
Bradley’s dilemma has become the biggest story in golf in recent weeks, escalating after Bradley’s signature event win at the Travelers Championship in July.
Bradley, 39 and the No. 11 player in the world per OWGR, spent the first year of his captaincy maintaining he’d only pick himself if he qualified on points. But ever since that win, Bradley has changed his tune, saying the win “changes things” and maintaining that “Pretty much everyone outside of our bubble tells me to play.”
Bradley & The Boys Are Ready for Bethpage Black 🏆🇺🇸#GoUSA pic.twitter.com/CxSmzjDdUm
— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) August 27, 2025
Bradley was famously the last person left off the 2023 U.S. team, a storyline he told with vulnerability for the Netflix documentary “Full Swing.” The series endeared Bradley to the golfing world, a veteran two-time Ryder Cup participant who still cared so deeply about representing his country. Enough so that when the PGA of America decided to change the direction of the U.S. captaincy, it made the surprising decision to turn to Bradley.
He’s since played himself back into contention, with two wins in the last 12 months and rising to No. 18 in the DataGolf rankings. Even with his play declining since the Travelers, Bradley had a strong enough case to be considered for a contender to make the team of 12.
Bradley takes pressure off himself
Ultimately, he decided his case wasn’t strong enough to validate the extra pressure and scrutiny of being the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
While established veterans and stars like Thomas, Cantlay and Morikawa were expected to make the team — and Burns is an experienced cup player who nearly won the U.S. Open in June — Young and Griffin represent new voices in the room.
Young is considered a perfect course fit as a distance-chasing bomber who ended the season with a win and a FedEx Cup playoff stretch bested only by Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood.
Griffin, on the other hand, may have been the final man on the team. On paper, Griffin has been the fourth-best American in strokes gained data and won two tournaments this summer to launch himself into contention. He finished top 10 at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open and finished T10 at the Tour Championship last week. His breakout season was enough to convince Bradley.
Ultimately, logic prevailed. It would have been understandable — and defensible — for Bradley to pick himself. He is very good. He is experienced. He brings passion. But it doesn’t mean Bradley is so good that it validates making himself the entire focus of the week. It would be a monumental distraction in which a pretty good but not great player is the most scrutinized aspect in the biggest event on the calendar. It’s too much.
The good news for the U.S.: Ben Griffin brings all the passion, swagger and energy that Bradley does, and he’s playing far better golf. Griffin is in great form, and he was born to perform and rile up New York crowds the same way the Justin Thomas types do so well. This is the best version of this team, and then the U.S. still has Bradley as an (uncompromised) leader. — Brody Miller, golf writer
New representation will get a chance to shine
Bradley made the right call here, and he most likely made it by going against a lot of the strongest voices within the U.S. Ryder Cup inner circle — the support was always there. All of the responsibilities of a modern-day Ryder Cup captain would have made a playing captain role incredibly difficult. It’s not just the picks and the player communication on the course — it’s the mental capacity that it takes to handle the outside pressure and be the representative for the team’s success.
Bradley has played well amid the chaos of the lead-up to the event. He won the Travelers, he made a run at the Tour Championship, but he made the selfless decision. Especially because this could have been Bradley’s last real chance to make the team. And in turn, a new face in Griffin will get to prove himself on the biggest stage possible. If there was anyone that might have been left off the team, it appears to have been Griffin who was teetering on the edge.
He’ll be a Ryder Cup rookie, but has all the chops to perform when it matters. Young — a player who has proven success at Bethpage Black and an excellent energy heading into the event — will also experience his first cup. — Gabby Herzig, golf writer
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
