"Keegan Bradley's a terrible captain," "What a douche" - Fans react to the Team USA captain's Ryder Cup picks

Team USA’s Ryder Cup roster is finally complete, and the announcement has set social media ablaze. Captain Keegan Bradley revealed his six captain’s picks on August 27. The choices have already sparked a wave of backlash online.

The U.S. squad heading to Bethpage Black now consists of twelve players. Six had already locked in their spots through automatic qualification: Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, and Bryson DeChambeau. Bradley then filled out the remaining half of the roster by selecting Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, and Sam Burns.

NUCLR GOLF updated this via an X post they shared on August 27. The caption of the post reads:

"🚨🏆🏳️‍⚧️#OFICIAL — The 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team roster:

"Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeauustin ,Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Ben Griffin, Patrick Cantlay, Cam Young, Collin Morikawa."

"@RyderCupUSA| #RyderCup"

NUCLR GOLF

@NUCLRGOLF

🚨🏆🇺🇸 #OFFICIAL — The 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team roster: 🇺🇸 Scottie Scheffler 🇺🇸 J.J. Spaun 🇺🇸 Xander Schauffele 🇺🇸 Russell Henley 🇺🇸 Harris English 🇺🇸 Bryson DeChambeau 🇺🇸 Justin Thomas 🇺🇸 Sam Burns 🇺🇸 Ben Griffin 🇺🇸 Patrick Cantlay 🇺🇸 Cam Young 🇺🇸 Collin Morikawa

While the roster looks strong on paper, not everyone is buying into Bradley’s vision. Reactions online were swift and blunt. One user on X fired off:

"Keegan Bradley's a terrible captain.'

Another one didn’t hold back either, simply writing:

“What a douche.”

A user quipped about the roster:

"All are Americans?

One fan wrote:

"Justin Thomas...🤢🤢🤢"

One user went a step ahead and lashed out:

"Pathetic Europe will wash this joke of a team sam burns give me a fu*king break

One of them simply wrote:

"This isn't good."

Scre via X-@NUCLR GOLF

Screengrab via X-@NUCLR GOLF

Adding to the drama is the fact that Bradley passed on the chance to select himself as a playing captain. With Donald Trump among those pushing for him to take that historic step, many thought he would. Had he done so, he would’ve become the first American to fill both roles since Arnold Palmer back in 1963. Instead, Bradley stood by his earlier comments that the job would require tough calls, and ultimately left himself out.

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“You can’t be both,” – Tom Watson warned Keegan Bradley before Ryder Cup picks

Before Keegan Bradley announced his Ryder Cup captain’s picks, Tom Watson had a clear message for him. Don’t try to be a player-captain. The 39-year-old Keegan Bradley was in the conversation to be the first American to do both since Arnold Palmer in 1963. But Watson, who is now 75, told The Times that the role would be impossible to handle.

“You can’t be both… I could not have been a player-captain, and the reason very simply is the scheduling, because the captain has to have his pairings in for the afternoon matches by 11 am. The last two morning matches are going on for sure, and you want to have the latitude to say this player is not playing well…”

Watson gave an example from 1993, when he was captain of the winning U.S. team.

“For instance, in 1993, Paul Azinger got blown out in his first match, and I thought, ‘I’m going to sit Paul and let him recoup.’ I had to make that decision, and if I was playing in a match, what a huge distraction that would have been. You can’t do it. You can’t be both.”

Keegan Bradley, who has played two Ryder Cups but lost both, had been linked to the idea since he was named captain last year. Watson knows the role well. He guided the U.S. to victory in 1993, but his second stint in 2014 ended in defeat to Paul McGinley’s Europe, with reports that he was out of touch with PGA Tour players.

Now Keegan Bradley will lead from the sidelines only, as the U.S. team prepares to face Europe at Bethpage Black starting September 26.