Jordan Spieth and the Ryder Cup is a love story many are familiar with. He may still be in the Ryder Cup conversation, but that doesn’t mean his ticket to Bethpage Black is anywhere near guaranteed—and he knows it. Just like many of his peers, Spieth is well aware of where he stands. In fact, ahead of The Open Championship 2025, he admitted candidly, “If I’m not there, it’s okay because, in all reality, it was a far-fetched goal.” Fast forward a month, and despite the odds still stacked against him, Spieth insists he’s not out of the race just yet.

During a recent chat on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, the Dallas native revealed a sly strategy to secure his team spot: he’s trying to talk Keegan Bradley out of pursuing a historic playing captain role – the first since Arnold Palmer. This, of course, makes sense when you consider the fact that Bradley’s playing well. He has the 2025 Travelers Championship win in his bag and is comfortably in the top 10 Ryder Cup standings. He is a danger, especially to hopefuls like Spieth.

“Making the Ryder Cup team was my loftiest goal to start the season,” Spieth explains first before jumping into the Bradley talk. However, Spieth hasn’t won in an event in three years. That adds pressure and a lack of Ryder Cup points (currently ranked 27th). So, he is trying to deal with that by trying to convince Keegan that it’d be a lot for him to have to play, too. So he probably should give up that pick, even if he’s a top 10 player and a top seven player in the world.

“Just seems like way too much to have to do. So, I’m trying to open up all the opportunities I can, but I can also go take care of business myself,” Jordan Spieth jokes. Still, despite the light-hearted mood, his reality is pretty obvious. His recent Ryder Cup track record hasn’t been stellar. In his first three Ryder Cups, he had seven wins, five losses, and two draws. In his last two appearances, he’s had one win, four losses, and three draws.

His experience and leadership would be a big plus for Team USA, but he’d need to show Keegan Bradley he’s playing at a top-12 level to get picked. And making it into that position is getting harder, especially with young pros like Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup being extremely viable choices. Just last week, Young celebrated his first PGA Tour win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship, a dominant win of 22-under that pretty much locks him into the Team USA roster. The pro is 15th in the standings, 12 spots ahead of Spieth.

There’s still a slim chance, however. After next week’s BMW Championship, the top six in the standings auto-qualify for the U.S. team. Bradley will fill out the rest of the 12-man roster with six captain’s picks after the Tour Championship. So Spieth’s got a few weeks to make his case—both on the course and off it. But on the off-chance he makes it, it will not end up well for the U.S. Team. Or, so says a golf analyst.

Andy Johnson believes a Jordan Spieth would be “wild” for the Ryder Cup

Jordan Spieth’s path to the Ryder Cup has been a wild ride with some big highs and lows. He’s had moments of brilliance, but his season so far makes you wonder if he’s a lock for Team USA. He’s done OK in majors and ranks 28th in Data Golf’s ratings. But at 27th in Ryder Cup points, he’ll need some crazy results in the FedEx Cup Playoffs to auto-qualify.

Spieth’s had awesome partnerships with Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed – he’s got 10.5 Ryder Cup points. Still, dig into his recent numbers and they’re not that great. In recent Ryder Cups, Spieth was winless (0-2-2) in Rome. Even in Team USA’s win at Whistling Straits – where Europe got beat badly – Spieth only got 1.5 points out of four matches. And in singles matches at the Ryder Cup? He’s never won in five tries (0-3-2).

So, you look at these numbers and cannot help but agree with Fried Egg Golf’s Andy Johnson. Even if reluctantly. In a recent episode, the golf analyst said, “If they roll out Spieth and he doesn’t do anything for the next couple of weeks, if they play their buddy ball, the fans are going to have the knives out. The Spieth selection is wild.” Undoubtedly, Spieth’s got flashes of greatness, but his tendency to hit wild shots isn’t ideal for Ryder Cup pressure. And worryingly, he’s 77th in Strokes Gained: Putting on the PGA Tour – usually one of his strengths.

On the other hand, Spieth’s return from injury has been weird. He’s arguably way more consistent on tour now, but that consistency hasn’t led to big results this season – just four top-10s. With Spieth 48th in FedEx Cup standings, he’s got a shot to make some noise in the playoffs. So, now all we can do is wait.