In a shocking transfer, Keegan Bradley was chosen to steer the U.S. group on the 2025 Ryder Cup.
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The previous 12 months had all of it — loopy profitable streaks, new main champs, a major-week arrest (!) and extra. With 2025 on the horizon, our writers are wanting again on the most memorable moments from 2024.
No. 15 — Charley Hull goes viral
No. 14 — LIV, LPGA CEOs say goodbye
No. 13 — Solheim Cup parking fiasco
No. 12 — Phoenix Open chaos
No. 11 — Lydia Ko’s Corridor of Fame resurgence
No. 10 — PGA Tour/Saudi PIF merger stalemate
Greatest moments of 2024 No. 9: Keegan Bradley’s shock Ryder Cup captaincy
Keegan Bradley, Ryder Cup captain?
With a PGA Championship on his resume, the 38-year-old was definitely on the quick checklist for future captaincies. However this subsequent one, at Bethpage Black? The concept appeared ludicrous. It wasn’t way back that the plain alternative for that captaincy was Phil Mickelson. Then, within the wake of Mickelson’s departure to LIV, all eyes turned to Tiger Woods.
However after months of hypothesis, Woods and the PGA of America had but to verify that he was taking over the job. Months ticked by. And Woods took on an elevated position on the PGA Tour’s Coverage Board. As Participant Director, he could be intimately concerned within the PIF/PGA Tour merger discussions, that means the intensive time dedication required for a Ryder Cup captaincy — particularly one on house soil — merely wouldn’t be potential.
That opened the door for Bradley, who was revealed because the appointee in July. Whereas preliminary reactions have been these of a “wait, WHAT?” selection, 5 months later, Bradley’s captaincy appears not solely completely applicable, however a positively impressed alternative.
How Keegan Bradley’s caddie came upon concerning the Ryder Cup captaincy
Bradley performed his school golf at St. Johns College in Queens — simply 24 miles from Bethpage. He’s conversant in the realm and the course. And, as hundreds of thousands of Netflix viewers witnessed on “Full Swing,” there may be maybe no participant extra passionate concerning the Ryder Cup. Bradley performed on the 2012 and 2014 groups — each U.S. losses — and famously refuses to open his still-packed group bag from Medinah till he’s part of a profitable squad.
A resurgent recreation lately meant he was among the many front-runners for a captain’s decide nod on the 2023 Cup in Rome, however he was left off the group in gut-wrenching vogue — whereas Netflix cameras rolled. Bradley’s emotional response to the information endeared him to a brand new legion of followers. And after a sensational 2024 season that included a win on the BMW Championship and two extra runner-up finishes, Bradley has a respectable shot at not simply captaining the 2024 U.S. squad, however taking part in on it for the primary time in additional than a decade.
A profitable stint on the 2024 Presidents Cup proved his mettle. Bradley, a captain’s decide, went 2-1-0 within the American victory over the Internationals at Royal Montreal. It was Bradley’s second group win on the Presidents Cup, after additionally being part of the victorious squad in 2013.
However Bradley has by no means been a member of a profitable Ryder Cup group. And given the heartache he’s endured over the previous decade, and the way in which he’s risen to the event in latest months as each a competitor and an out-of-nowhere captain appointee, it’s onerous to think about a extra good ending to his anguished Ryder Cup profession than a win at Bethpage in September.
The total-circle potential right here is apparent — and so interesting! Whereas there’s nonetheless loads of uncertainty when it comes to what to anticipate, one factor’s for positive: We will’t wait to see all of it play out.
