Ruder Cup captaincy is a pinnacle in golf, but for Keegan Bradley, it is a painful memory. His decision to be a playing captain would have elevated this season, but Bradley chose to play it safe. For critics, it was enough to silence the whispers. For Bradley, though, he still hasn’t moved on.

Speaking to Gary Williams on the year’s last episode of the 5 Clubs podcast, Bradley said, “Like a lot of things, this is out of my hands. I will say that there’s definitely a hole in my soul from this… I would like to play again. I would love to be captain again, but that’s not really how this works. I was Ryder Cup captain this past year, never knowing that…this was ever going to happen until I got the phone call.”

Regardless of that, he was given this “golden chance,” if one may. But unfortunately, his planets for the Ryder Cup have never aligned in a straight line. The captaincy fell on him after Tiger Woods passed it on, citing his heavy schedule. For Bradley, this felt like a full-circle moment, as he was left off the team in 2023, despite finishing 11th in the US standings. His bags were ready, as seen in Netflix’s Full Swing, yet the call never came. That became one of the most talked-about snubs in recent times.

So perhaps this was a redemption? Bradley accepted it, but not without grinding his teeth.

If he’d become the captain, he couldn’t really play. We mean, he could, but that has rarely been done, not since Arnold Palmer in 1963. And Bradley’s rank this year was the same as previously: an 11th. He had won the Travelers Championship in June and looked fit as ever. For months, the golf world thought that America was about to get its second playing captain. But Keegan Bradley heeded the critics and decided to remain behind the ropes. This decision, he said, “broke his heart.” Respect came pouring in, despite Bradley’s hurt. And what followed next only deepened it.

Team USA lost 15–13 to Europe at Bethpage Black. Bradley became the first Ryder Cup captain since 2012 to lose on home soil—a Ryder Cup he was also a part of, making his debut. Naturally, he couldn’t get over it. “No part of me thinks I’ll ever get over this,” he said at that time.

That’s why the idea of 2027, the next Ryder Cup, matters so much. Adare Manor will be the venue, Europe’s home ground. Bradley can have a chance to redeem himself, just like every skipper, but a part of him knows that this is not going to happen.

“If I get the opportunity someday, that’d be great, but that’s most likely not going to happen,” he says firmly. “Maybe I can go make another team and do it on my own.”

He might as well do that. Because if his captaincy was the talk of the town, it was also the recipient of several harsh criticisms.

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The backfiring of Keegan Bradley’s leadership

Reddit, X, or YouTube: every social media platform saw a massive scrutiny of several questionable decisions Bradley took during his stint as the captain. Many of them centered around the course setup, which backfired spectacularly.

In an attempt to give America an advantage, Bradley had the officials reduce the rough at Bethpage. That only helped Team Europe, as rain two days before the event softened the surfaces further. The Ryder Cup became a low-scoring putting contest, Europe’s comfort zone. European pairs easily went for 5-under and 7-under in key sessions.

More questions followed when Bradley showed a rather stubborn attitude in the “failed pairings” of Collin Morikawa and Harris English. The duo was thrashed twice by Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. The data showed them as the weakest combinations possible on the field, yet Bradley didn’t listen and continued to send them on the course. He later conceded his mistake.

Overall, none of the plans Bradley seemed confident about worked. They couldn’t land and visibly failed. The raunchy crowd added to the unease, and Keegan Bradley’s relative silence, as well as a backhanded comment calling the fans “passionate,” stood out.