Both of Europe's Ryder Cup big guns Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have voiced their surprise at Keegan Bradley being appointed as the Team USA captain for 2025.
The 38-year-old was announced as a real left-field appointment to be USA skipper for next year's event at Bethpage Black in New York.
In a move even a surprise to the 2011 PGA Championship winner himself, previous captain Zach Johnson told him the news as the Americans look to go in a very different direction than usual.
Bradley has played in just two Ryder Cups and lacks experience even as a vice-captain, while after narrowly missing out on Rome he wants to try and qualify to play on his own team as a playing captain for next year.
Bradley will face Luke Donald next year, with the returning European captain revealing the news to McIlroy and a few other team members during an unofficial dinner just ahead of the Scottish Open.
"Definitely I think a surprise for everyone," McIlroy said about the news. "We had dinner in London on Sunday night with Luke, and he told us then. Yeah, it's an interesting appointment.
"The youngest captain since Arnold Palmer I think was a playing captain as 34. But he knows Bethpage very well. He went to university in the area. He's obviously very passionate about the Ryder Cup.
"Yeah, I mean, it's certainly a departure from what the US have done over the last few years, and you know, time will tell if that's a good thing or not."
Bradley has received backing from the likes of Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau - and has already said he will consider players from LIV Golf for his team.
Tiger Woods was the overwhelming favorite for the job but reportedly declined the role, forcing the PGA of America, which runs the US arm of the Ryder Cup, to look elsewhere.
And McIlroy's fellow European leader was just as surprised when he heard the news of Bradley leading the Americans into battle in New York.
"I just heard so many people say it was going to be Tiger, Tiger at Bethpage," said Rahm. "I'm like, that makes sense, right. He's won the US Open at Bethpage, and it is Tiger Woods. So I felt like that made a lot of sense.
"But I understand Keegan, as well, right. His Ryder Cup showings, he was a very enthusiastic player. He made his mark. Him and Phil had a great partnership, and there's some great highlights from him at Medinah.
"So he's a man from the northeast. I know Boston and New York, usually not friends, but I think for that week, they will just adopt him for the week. Yeah, I can see it. I can understand why he was picked."
