The U.S. captain dished on his Ryder Cup plans ahead of the 3M Open.
Tiger Woods doesn’t have a role with the 2025 United States Ryder Cup team, but captain Keegan Bradley sounds in favor of the idea.
“I’ve told Tiger that I want him to be as involved as he wants to be,” Bradley said ahead of this week’s PGA Tour stop, the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities.
“With the British Open going on, we’re not really chatting too much about that. We both have a job to do and I don’t want to bother Tiger with that. I think in the coming months — we’re still 14 months out here, so we’ve got a long time.”
Bradley — an impassioned Ryder Cup participant — was recently hired to helm Team USA at Bethpage Black, in New York. Back on home turf, the Americans will hope to avenge a disastrous showing in Rome in 2023.
Bradley, 38, will be the youngest captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
The PGA of America’s decision to tap Bradley — still a top-40 PGA Tour player — sparked surprise, enthusiasm, and skepticism from his peers. Bradley, himself, admitted to being caught off-guard by the phone call.
“I heard so many people say it was going to be Tiger, Tiger at Bethpage,” Jon Rahm said before a LIV Golf event. “I’m like, ‘that makes sense, right.’ He’s won the U.S. Open at Bethpage, and it is Tiger Woods. So, I felt like that made a lot of sense.”
Tiger, 48, and the former PGA of America CEO, Seth Waugh, had discussed a captaincy for months. Ultimately, the 15-time major champion passed, citing his robust off-course PGA Tour portfolio.
On Wednesday, Bradley revealed that he got the gig almost a month before the July 9 announcement.
“I sat on the being the Ryder Cup captain for almost three weeks without anybody knowing and that was tough. So being out here and seeing the guys, especially last week at the British Open and then coming here, it’s been really great. It’s been a real therapeutic thing for me to see the guys, that’s been the best part.
“It was nice to not have anybody know so I could sort of move under the radar making all these plans. But now, having it be out in open has been helpful, too.”
On Tuesday, Bradley made his first notable decision as captain, selecting PGA Tour and Ryder Cup veteran Webb Simpson as a vice captain.
“It’s been really fun to start to really get together my vice captain staff to sort of get them on board to what my message and sort of philosophy on the Ryder Cup,” Bradley said.
Simultaneously, Bradley is focused on making the FedExCup playoffs for the 14th straight year. He sits 42nd in the standings after missing the cut at the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon (the top 70 advance).
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“This is my 14th year on Tour,” he said. “Going to make the Playoffs every year means a lot to me. Making the second, BMW, is a big deal for all of us, so I want to do that and then obviously try to make the Tour championship. I take a lot of pride in knowing that I’ve done that so many years in a row and repeated that and excited to do it again.”
Rather than view it as a hindrance, Bradley is hoping to use his second job as Ryder Cup captain as an advantage in PGA Tour events.
“I have a real tough time leaving golf at the golf course,” he said. “I’m thinking about something in my swing or a tough shot I’ve got coming up the next couple days or FedExCup, World Ranking points, stuff like that that doesn’t help you play well.
“I’ve been able to really leave that because once I leave the course and when I’m home, I’m really thinking a lot about the Ryder Cup. So I’m trying to use that as sort of almost like a distraction away from my real job. I’m hoping that I can utilize that.”
Bradley will play with future Ryder Cup prospects Nick Dunlap and Sahith Theegala for the first two rounds at the 3M Open.
