From feeling like an outsider to leading a team, Keegan Bradley has come a long way. On July 8, 2024, he was named the US team skipper for the Bethpage showdown. Earlier, as you may know, it was Tiger Woods who was thought of for the role, but his commitments to the PGA Tour Policy Board, which is responsible for the PIF Merger made him decide otherwise. However, he stated that he’d consider the role in the future, for sure; “That does not mean I wouldn’t want to captain a team in the future. If and when I feel it is the right time, I will put my hat in the ring for this committee to decide.” Now that team US’s time for revenge comes close, where does Woods’s involvement stand? Bradley shared.

The Presidents Cup just concluded a few weeks ago, and it was indeed a tumultuous week. Team USA secured a record-extending 10th consecutive win after Bradley claimed the winning point in their 18.5-11.5 success over the International Team. There was the FedEx Cup Playoffs before that, which was a rather important stretch for everyone. So, Bradley had his full focus on it and it helped since he won the BMW Championship. Naturally, for this duration, Ryder Cup-related things were on pause.

Now, all that’s done, attention shifts to the Ryder Cup again, and how the 82x Tour winner will be a part of it. But to know that, we’ll have a bit as Bradley mentioned, “I’ll be addressing that in the coming weeks and months.” For all we know right now is that our captain has “had great conversations with Tiger. He’s a mentor to all of us, and you know, he’s got a lot of great suggestions on things we can do as a team.”

Mar 3, 2022; Orlando, Florida, USA; Keegan Bradley hits his drive on the 11th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Keegan Bradley talked with Woods while competing in the Open Championship in July. He asked Woods to be as involved as he wanted to be with the team. To what extent will the 15x major winner be involved, remains to be seen but for now, Woods is not the only one that the American Captain is seeking help from.

Keegan Bradley took inspiration from Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk led the American Team to victory at the Royal Montreal, and Bradley was impressed. “We’re going to copy a lot of what Jim Furyk did this week,” the 38-year-old said. “He set a culture here for us, and we’re going to carry that over into Bethpage.”

The great culture thing has been promoted since the 2014 Ryder Cup Task Force and was then implemented in 2016 at Hazeltine, which, as Furyk puts it, is simply, “to put the players in the best possible position to play their best.”

The veteran enlightened him about the process of going from point A to B and what was to be kept in mind while selecting his picks. Now what happens at Bethpage sure will be interesting, especially with Bradley relying on such experienced players for advice. Oh, and Bradley already has a few things set in place for his team members. Talk about a captain, right?