Keegan Bradley is on a “mission” to win the Ryder Cup for the U.S. team.
He will assemble the most talented players on his team to achieve that goal, regardless of which tour they play on.
“I’m not worried about LIV Golf. I have 12 of the best players on my team. I don’t care what they play or where they play. So, our mission is to win this tournament,” Bradley said Tuesday.
“You want the best players on your team. You never know what the golf landscape will be like by the time you get to Bethpage in 2025.”
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding LIV Golf in the run up to Rome 2023. The Europeans stripped Henrik Stenson of his captaincy when he joined the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit, handing the reins to Englishman Luke Donald instead. The DP World Tour, which runs Europe’s Ryder Cup teams, has barred LIV Golf players from joining the Blue & Gold, meaning regular Ryder Cup players like Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Martin Kaymer will not be joining LIV.
On the American side, captain Zach Johnson selected Brooks Koepka, winner of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, for Team USA.
Koepka was the only LIV golfer on either side and finished with a 1-1-1 record, including historic losses to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Oberg. Koepka played Scottie Scheffler on Saturday morning and lost 9-7.
No player has performed better in majors this year than Bryson DeChambeau, who finished tied for sixth at Augusta National, second at Valhalla and won the U.S. Open in a dramatic fashion at Pinehurst No. 2. If DeChambeau had done that a season ago, Johnson would have had to include him in his list of 12 Americans.
But if the two-time US Open champion continues in this form he will surely be selected for the 2025 national team – and Bradley would have to select him if he doesn’t automatically qualify.
However, Bradley isn’t too worried about that, at least for now.
“I’ve only been captain for two weeks and we haven’t even started the real points-earning that starts next year,” Bradley added.
“So we’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out. My biggest concern is whether we have the best players on the team.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
