A month removed from the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, U.S. captain Keegan Bradley is still thinking about how the biennial competition against Europe will go. Speaking publicly for the first time since the event at the Travelers Championship media day, the U.S. captain opened up about what’s been on his mind since leaving Bethpage Black without winning the Ryder Cup.
“If you win, it’s a lifetime honor. If you lose, it’s ‘I’m going to have to live with this for the rest of my life,'” Bradley said. “Part of me doesn’t think I’ll ever get through this.”
Bradley’s U.S. team ultimately lost 15-13 to Europe, but it wasn’t a near-historic comeback on Sunday. Despite entering the final day of competition with an 11.5-4.5 margin, the U.S. lost only one match and was much closer to final points than many thought heading into Sunday’s singles.
The underperformance heading into singles was so discouraging that Bradley admitted he had to pull himself together before addressing his team on Saturday night.
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“It’s been one of the toughest times of my life since the Ryder Cup until now,” Bradley said. “I think you put so much into something that even if you win, people call it a Ryder Cup hangover and you’re just mentally and physically lost.
“You all put in so much effort and planned so much, and the first two days went as badly as we could have imagined, and then on Sunday we had a great rally.”
The final score only highlights what can happen for Bradley and the red, white, and blue. The coach admitted in the team press conference after play that this was what he wanted. He would have founded Bethpage Black. In a different way. European leaders said they were pleasantly surprised by the way the golf course was set up when they arrived.
Although it was a tournament week decision, Bradley’s decision not to include himself on the roster is one that continues week after week on the PGA Tour. The buzz grew even louder when he won the Travelers Championship at the end of June, moving him into the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking at the time.
Having appeared twice, he ultimately decided to only accept the captaincy and leave the club at home. Bradley said he spent the week of the Ryder Cup thinking about what would have happened if he had played, and he expressed a similar sentiment on Monday.
“I hope and pray that I have the opportunity to play there forever,” Bradley said. “My first practice day, I was on the tee and I saw all the players walking down the fairway en masse and I said, ‘I wish I had played. That’s all that matters. I’m missing out.’
“By the second or third day, I was like, ‘I wish I didn’t play,’ because physically I was so tired. I’m glad I didn’t play, because that would have been bad. I didn’t think I could do both jobs.”
Bradley, 39, may have missed his last chance to swing a stick in the Ryder Cup, but it’s a reality for him. Of the 24 players on the American and European teams, he was the only one older than 45-year-old Justin Rose.
Still, the current world No. 14 is looking for another challenge, even if his love for the Ryder Cup is one-sided.
“This egging event was so cruel to me. I don’t know if I want to play. No, I want to play,” Bradley said, correcting himself. “It’s a very strange thing to love something so much that it doesn’t give you anything.”
