MONTREAL — The Ryder Cup bag from that first disappointing experience remains unopened at his Florida home, a story Keegan Bradley has told numerous times as he’s tried to explain the passion he has for the team events he holds so dear.
Not getting to play in them for the past 10 years had him wondering if ever would again. He knew that time might be past. So to be—shockingly—named U.S. Ryder Cup captain for 2025, given a spot on this year’s Presidents Cup team and then earning the clinching point?
It’s impossible to make up that story.
“I certainly wouldn’t have thought I’d be the Ryder Cup captain; and I didn’t know if these days were over to play,” Bradley said beside the 18th green at Royal Montreal after he earned the clinching point for the U.S. Presidents Cup team.
“I wanted to play in them every year. But it doesn’t matter how much you want to play. You have to make the team. I’m just really thankful. It would have been easy for Jim (Furyk) not to pick me. And I would have understood because there’s so many good players around.
“I just thanked him there on the green, ‘thank you so much for giving me this.’ This was really special.”
Bradley, 38, was the oldest player on a U.S. team that ended up cruising to an 18½ to 11½ victory at the Presidents Cup, the 10th straight victory in the competition.
After being tied at 5 following Friday’s play, the U.S. captured 13½ of the remaining 20 points to frustrate the International team once again. Bradley, in the sixth match out, was in position to end it when he went 3 up over Si Woo Kim with four holes to play.
As Bradley would be the first to point out, it’s never easy. He missed a chance to close out the match when he failed to convert a 4-footer at the 16th, then watched Kim knock his approach stiff at the 17th to pull within a hole. He then needed Kim to miss another birdie putt on 18 to close out the match.
IT'S OVER! 🇺🇸🏆
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 29, 2024
Keegan Bradley defeats Si Woo Kim 1UP to WIN THE PRESIDENTS CUP!
📺 NBC and Peacock | #PresidentsCup pic.twitter.com/GEyQnnMCKR
Bradley’s road to this point started more than a year ago when he was left off the U.S. Ryder Cup team by captain Zach Johnson in favor of younger players such as Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler
The Americans faltered in Rome and the second-guessing occurred before it was complete. And, of course, there was plenty of conjecture about whether someone like Bradley—who had won the Travelers Championship and had a well-known passion for the Ryder Cup—might have helped.
That story took on even more meaning when the Netflix documentary “Full Swing” highlighting the year came out earlier this spring, one that caught Bradley when he got the devastating call from Johnson last year saying he had not been picked for the team.
Knowing the result, it made the emotion all the more pronounced.
Fast forward to July when a decision on the Ryder Cup captaincy lingered as Tiger Woods—the prohibitive favorite for the job—put off a decision, ultimately deciding against it.
PGA of America officials then went well outside the box to pick Bradley, who played on three U.S. teams but none for 10 years. He was on the losing 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup team, with his singles loss to Jamie Donaldson being the clinching point for Europe.
And when Bradley won the BMW Championship last month for his seventh PGA Tour victory, it put him in the conversation for a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup. He was 10th in the final standings and Furyk made him one of his six at-large picks.
All of which made the final day surreal for Bradley.
“I couldn’t eat,” Bradley said of Sunday morning. “I felt like I could throw up. I can’t remember ever feeling like that. I’ve won majors. I’ve held leads in big tournaments. I was really uncomfortable. Properly uncomfortable. It’s so nerve-racking.
“And then you look around the room and you think of what you need to do for the guys. And being a captain’s pick you feel like you have to help the captain. You don’t want to let him down. It was just really heavy. It was a really heavy morning. Heavy all week. But this morning it was like I woke up and I felt like electricity went through my body.”
As it turned out, Bradley need not have worried. The U.S. was going to clinch the Cup with or without him.
Xander Schauffele was in the first match and got 5 up on Jason Day before prevailing 4 and 3. Sam Burns tied the next match against Tom Kim.
The U.S. got this done without Scottie Scheffler, who lost 1 up to Hideki Matsuyama, but still went 3-2 for the week.
Then Russell Henley dispatched Sungjae Im 3 and 2 while Patrick Cantlay took down Taylor Pendrith 3 and 1. The U.S. team had 3½ of the 4½ points it needed for victory five matches in.
Bradley was next.
There were still six more matches to go, with U.S. players Collin Morikawa and Max Homa winning while Wyndham Clark and Sahith Theegala tied. Brian Harman, the only player to not earn a point for the U.S., lost to Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Bradley knows the Ryder Cup will be a different deal next year. He’s played on two losing teams, including one of the most excruciating defeats ever in 2012 at Medinah.
He’s go that unopened bag as a reminder.
The Presidents Cup was a different reminder for him, one filled with joy and gratitude.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as From Ryder Cup Captain to Presidents Cup Clincher, Keegan Bradley Is Writing an Unreal Story.
