"Dumb move"; "He earned it" - Fans react to Keegan Bradley reportedly competing as playing captain in US Ryder Cup squad

Netizens have reacted to reports of Keegan Bradley competing as the playing captain in the US Ryder Cup team. Bradley will lead the US team, while Luke Donald will lead the European side. However, there's a twist in the US team, which is that Bradley will serve as a captain, who may also play in the Ryder Cup matches.

The last time such an instance took place was in 1963, when Arnold Palmer was the playing captain. Recently, as the news came up on X that Bradley would repeat the feat, fans reacted in huge numbers.

A fan called it a dumb move.

Meanwhile, another fan gave a heads up to Bradley, saying that he earned it.

A cybercitizen questioned his captaincy. They wrote:

“Why is he the captain? Never understood the popularity”

Another wrote:

“Disgusting if true.”

A golf follower supported Bradley since he has been playing well. He penned down:

“As he should he is playing well.”

Keegan Bradley’s last tournament was the Tour Championship, where he finished at T7 with a 13 under score. Apart from this, Bradley had four more top-10 finishes in the 2025 season.

Keegan Bradley cleared his priorities ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup

In the 2023 edition, after the US Ryder Cup team lost the battle against the European team under Zach Johnson's leadership as the torchbearer, the team decided to pick a new captain, and they chose Keegan Bradley for the 2025 Ryder Cup edition.

The current edition of the tournament will take place at Bethpage Black, Farmingdale, USA. Before the main event, Bradley opened up about his priorities for his team, saying (via Sky Sports):

“The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I'll know I made the right decision. Until then, I won't know. It's going to be pretty wild. Whatever decision we make, we're going to have to live with it…I'm sure they [vice-captains] have been talking behind my back as I'm out there… I'm sure they have some of their opinions that they want to tell me what they think.”

Previously, after winning the Travelers Championship in 2025, Bradley shared about his playing captain position in the post-tournament press conference. He said ( via ASAP Sports):

“My whole life every year I was out here I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team, and then this would be the first year where maybe I didn't want to. I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, you know, this is what happens. But we'll see. I'm going to do whatever I think is best for the team. Whether that's me on the team.”

The PGA Tour regular season concluded last week with Tommy Fleetwood winning the Tour Championship with 18 under. Up next, the golfers will tee up at the Ryder Cup in September.

About the author

Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at Sportskeeda. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma