After the win at Oakmont, J.J. Spaun has just spawned at the top of the Ryder Cup leaderboard. What was once dominated by Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Bryson DeChambeau has seen a major shift in paradigm. The Californian, after his first major win, has overtaken the Crushers GC captain by 1,593.85 points. And with DeChambeau getting only one more shot to improve his score, Spaun definitely has the advantage to be the third-highest ranked golfer to qualify on merit for a trip to Bethpage. And Keegan Bradley had nothing but praise for the latter’s amazing feat.

In a press conference preceding the 2025 Travelers Championship, the Team U.S. captain was asked if he was planning to start the conversation about representing his country at Bethpage. Bradley replied, “I’ve spoken with J.J. I am so thrilled for him to have won that tournament. He’s played so great this year.” Despite pulling off a shocker at Oakmont, it seems that the 39-year-old still had his eyes on what Spaun was doing this season. Even without his 2025 U.S. Open win, the Los Angeles-born was still having an impressive run, getting 4 top-10 finishes, including that incredible runner-up at THE PLAYERS Championship, pushing Rory McIlroy to his limit. That’s what Bradley would probably like to see at Bethpage as well.

Speaking about the 34-year-old’s triumph at Oakmont and the challenges of Bethpage, Bradley added, “I think going to a course like Bethpage Black, the people are really going to be behind a guy like J.J. Spaun. His story is incredible. He’s a hard-working guy that’s just building and building and building his whole career. To win the U.S. Open at Oakmont, in my eyes, is the pinnacle of major golf. It’s as tough as you can get.”

Spaun boasts a great record in the only appearance he has made at Bethpage so far in the 2019 PGA Championship. He finished the event at T54, outplaying the likes of Max Homa, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, and his rival on the Team U.S. Ryder Cup leaderboard, Bryson DeChambeau. This was also the major where Tiger Woods had missed the cut after he had won his 5th Green Jacket just a month prior to that. For Spaun to finish above all these big names just shows that he is ready for his second challenge at Bethpage.

Further showing his support for the new face in his team, Bradley added, “I think he’s a guy that people at Bethpage will really resonate with and a guy that on our team is the heartbeat. He’s now the U.S. Open champion. That’s a heavy burden to bear, but he’s also — that’s also a great thing to have on your team. I’m really proud to have him on this team because it’s really difficult to make your first team. To go out there the way he did this year and play in these big events this well is a testament to what a player he is.”

It’s true that this will be J.J. Spaun’s first time playing the prestigious Ryder Cup. While his qualification is still not confirmed like that of Scheffler, he is well on his way to making it happen. Especially if the only obstacle he might face along the way is Bryson DeChambeau. While the LIV Golf pro will only have 1 shot to earn more points, the man who took the U.S. Open title from him will have 12 PGA Tour events and the 2025 Open Championship. That makes Spaun a firm favorite to outrank DeChambeau, even if only one of them makes it in the top 6 and qualifies on merit.

While it’s evident that Keegan Bradley had nothing but praise for J.J. Spaun, he also shared a few words of wisdom for the first-time major winner.

Keegan Bradley’s valuable tips for J.J. Spaun

After complimenting J.J. Spaun for his outstanding triumph in the 2025 U.S. Open, Keegan Bradley also resonated on how his life changed after he had picked up the PGA Championship back in 2011. Bradley, who was only 25 then, said, “Everything changed after Atlanta. I remember coming home and going out to dinner with my friends and walking into the restaurant. I could feel that people knew who I was. I had never felt that. The thing I told J.J. was, I hope he really enjoys this. I put the trophy in my closet. I didn’t even look at it.”

Having only received his PGA Tour membership a few years ago, Bradley was still relatively inexperienced in the big leagues. So it was difficult for him to take in all the attention he had received after he beat the likes of Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, and many other big names.

Bradley’s advice for how Spaun could deal with the attention was, “There’s always another tournament. He’s going to tee it up here. He bogeys the first hole, he’s going to be bummed out. It’s the way golf is. You win the Stanley Cup, you get to enjoy it for months on end. I just hope he enjoys it. For me, everything happened fast. I had been on the TOUR for only a year. I didn’t know what any of these media tours were. I’m sure J.J. is going through that. My advice to him was to try to sit back and enjoy it and soak it all in.”

As Keegan Bradley hinted, he was quite overwhelmed with the big career win. But Ryder Cup captain was still relatively young when he won in Atlanta. J.J. Spaun seems to be already soaking in all the glory and enjoying himself. He was seen wearing a broad smile only hours after his win as he showed off his trophy in New York during an interview with NBC. In fact, he may have been enjoying himself a little too much, as Michael Kim even poked fun at him because he missed the mandatory players’ meeting that introduced the new PGA Tour CEO, Brian Rolapp, to everyone. He seems more than ready to take on the 2025 Ryder Cup challenge at Bethpage.