The team announcement for the Ryder Cup has been a shocking one, to say the least. With the captain’s pick, the entire golf community, including Donald Trump, was expecting Keegan Bradley as a playing captain for the 2025 season. In fact, with the incline performance graph of the golfer, Trump posted, “Keegan Bradley should DEFINITELY be on the American Ryder Cup Team — As Captain!!! He is an AMAZING guy. It will be a great Ryder Cup.” However, as he picked six names, sidelining his own, it left the demand unfulfilled. But on the brighter side, his move brought in LIV golfer and his fellow Ryder Cup mate, Phil Mickelson, to talk about the decision.

At first, Mark Baldwin, the former PGA Tour professional, shared a post about Arnold Palmer’s ideology. “Arnold Palmer taught Peter Jacobsen (and undoubtedly many others) that you never act more important than your golf partners. Most of the time, Palmer told Jacobsen, being a pro golfer was about supporting the people around you. The King would be proud of Keegan Bradley today.” The captain, despite his dream to play at the Ryder Cup, made the decision that was most suited for the team. Bradley shared, “I’m going to sit it out because I value the team more than my own desires.” 

Now that his decision came out, Phil Mickelson reposted Baldwin’s post and shared his feelings. Mickelson wrote, “Keegan did a great job today and was as classy as the king. He’s leading by example and is showing why he’s a great choice to lead this team.” 

During the team announcement, Bradley shared, “It broke my heart not to play. It really did. You work forever to make these teams but ultimately I was chosen to do a job. I was chosen to be the captain of this team.” But as promised, he did the best for the team and picked the top names who might lead them to victory. And now, Mickelson has joined in voicing his support for the move.

Even Kyle Porter shared on X, writing, “The most galvanizing scenario possible played out for the U.S. team. The *one guy* who is most obsessed with playing in a Ryder Cup just said, “I’m going to sit it out because I value the team more than my own desires.” I don’t think (?) that has always been the U.S. attitude. Now he has a team that will literally do anything they can to get him a Cup. Big boy stuff from Keegan and an excellent outcome for the U.S.” That also invited Mickelson to approve that thought. His comment on the post was “Well said 👏.”

With the captain taking the hard pill, the golf community has been praising him for the move. Even the players during the news conference applauded the golfer for his great captaincy.

Keegan Bradley earned praise from Ryder Cup players

Having picked four professionals with past experience, Bradley has earned praise from the players for his involvement. First, Justin Thomas, who is the “heart of the team” according to Bradley, shared a bold comparison with previous captains.

JT remarked, “It’s been really, really a cool process to be a part of as a player, and everybody does it so differently and every captain is so great in different ways, but just the communication and how transparent Keegan has been, I mean, I don’t want to speak for everybody, but I would say this isn’t something that we have experienced before.” The captain, with his involvement, has been taking the initiative to be at the forefront and be transparent with his decision. Even JT shared how he talked to the player for not making the team.

Following Thomas’ praise, Patrick Cantlay also joined in admiring Bradley for his involvement. “I think everyone that’s been involved in this process can tell how dedicated he is to doing everything possible to put us in the position to compete and to give us the best chance at winning.” Bradley, since the beginning of the season, has kept a close eye on every player. In fact, with each achievement, he congratulated and talked to them about being a prospective teammate.

Since June last year, the golfer has been actively planning as the captain to change the team’s results. Even he considered having himself in the team after his win at the Travelers Championship, but now he did what was best for the team. That shocking move against all expectations has called on his former fellow Ryder Cup player to praise him. Did you feel the same as Mickelson, too? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.