Win Or Lose, Keegan Bradley Being Tabbed As U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Was A Bet Worth Making | Mark Harris

Keegan Bradley was not atop anyone's list of names to potentially captain the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2025. Tiger Woods' name occupied that spot, and if we're being honest, Bradley wasn't even on the radar of candidates to lead the Americans into battle at Bethpage Black next Fall.

To say the PGA of America's decision to name Bradley the U.S. captain was a surprise would be a serious understatement, which is one of the many reasons it should be looked at as a brilliant move.

After Woods passed on the opportunity, the PGA of America could have continued with its regular pattern of turning to a veteran player with experience of being an assistant on past American staffs in hopes that said experience of the person in the captain's chair would lead the Americans to a win in the biennial event. 

The fact of the matter is that strategy has not worked with the Europeans winning eight of the last 11 Ryder Cups. 

For decades now, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain has been someone on the wrong side of 40 years old who is typically far removed from teeing it up on the PGA Tour on a consistent basis.

Bradley will turn just 39 years old a few months before the 2025 Ryder Cup, making him the youngest U.S. captain since Arnold Palmer held the role at 34 in 1963, the year the Americans routed the Europeans in Atlanta 23-9.

Bradley, currently ranked as the No. 19 player in the world, being given the nod as captain signals a legitimate change in the approach the United States is taking into the competition, which is something American golf fans have been clamoring for many years at this point.

Naming Keegan Bradley U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Is A Bet Worth Making

As ridiculous as it may sound, the PGA of America actually trying something new instead of turning to the old guard that's consistently been losing Ryder Cups is a win in itself, regardless of what the outcome may be in New York.

This changing of the guard isn't the sole reason Bradley being tabbed as captain should be applauded, the experience he has at Bethpage Black and familiarity with essentially the entire Northeast Region of the U.S. can't be overlooked either.

Bradley played his college golf at St. John's, which is less than 30 miles from Bethpage. Ahead of the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, he explained that it was his favorite golf course in the world, and one that he's played hundreds of times over the years. While that certain PGA Championship will be six years in the past when the 2025 Ryder Cup rolls around, the experience and appreciation he has accumulated on the grounds certainly can't hurt.

Perhaps the most important and certainly the most exciting aspect of Bradley earning the U.S. captaincy is that there may not be a person in history who loves the Ryder Cup more than he does. The fact that the two Ryder Cups he's played in, in 2012 and 2014, were won by the Europeans only adds to his fire. Add that reality to the fact that he was left on the outside looking in as a captain's pick for the 2023 Ryder Cup, and that fire is a legitimate inferno.

After not being selected by Zach Johnson for Rome a year ago, Bradley shared a photo of his team suitcase from the 2012 Ryder Cup while explaining that he had left it unopened, and will continue do so, until he wins a Ryder Cup of his own.

That suitcase may go untouched for the rest of Bradley's life, or just maybe September 28, 2025 will be the day he finally gets to unpack following an American triumph at Bethpage Black on what would be a Sunday to remember for Americans.