Justin Thomas weighs in on Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup player role amid divisive talks

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Justin Thomas on Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup role (Image via Getty)

Keegan Bradley’s possible dual role at the Ryder Cup has been the major talking point over the last few months. The 39-year-old, who has enjoyed an excellent 2025 season on the PGA Tour, is among favorites to get a player slot alongside his captaincy duties. While the golf world debates this, Justin Thomas has now come out to reveal that he’d accept the US Team skipper as a player.

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Bradley won the Travelers Championship in June and achieved multiple top 10 finishes so far to sit 11th in the US team player standings. Meanwhile, Thomas has admitted that he would let Bradley play in his team if the roles were reversed and he were the Ryder Cup captain. It is pertinent to note that the 32-year-old golfer is likely to play for the USA at Bethpage as he sits a place outside the automatic qualified top-6.

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Replying to a media query on whether he’d pick Keegan Bardley for the Ryder Cup team, Justin Thomas said, as quoted by ASAP Sports:

“Yeah, I would.”

However, he further admitted that the dual role will be ‘difficult’ to play in for the skipper.

He added:

“It is, it's a lot. I think Keegan would say the same. I don't think he would say it's easy by any means. But I have myself, whatever other captains, automatic qualifiers have all the faith in the world that whatever he decides to do is going to be in the best interest of the team.”
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For the unversed, Bradley was passed on the US captaincy role in 2024 after Zach Johnson. Notably, he’d become the US team’s first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 if he opts himself for a player role.


Justin Thomas addresses Keegan Bradley's risk as Ryder Cup skipper

Justin Thomas, during the presser on Tour Championship Day 1, also commented on Keegan Bradley’s responsibility at the Ryder Cup. The 16x PGA Tour gave a mixed reaction when asked whether he expects the newly-appointed skipper to take the blame if the United States lose to the European side at Bethpage. He dubbed the captain’s position tricky during team losses.

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Responding to whether a possible Ryder Cup loss will be Bradley’s responsibility, Justin Thomas said:

“It is… Yeah, obviously it’s more so this year with it being a captain that has every right in the world to be playing on the team. But I’ve felt that way every team, that the captain is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t, with his picks, with who he sends out when, with the pairings… It’s all very important stuff, and I have yet to see anything on our end like an ‘Oh, my gosh, this captain lost us the Cup.’”

Furthermore, Thomas recalled his experience of being part of losing sides and dubbed it “pretty crappy” play from the team. He said the loss is ‘unfortunately’ the players’ fault but it is still a ‘very tough spot’ for the captains to be in.

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Edited by Vishnu Mohan
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