Keegan Bradley to bring ‘different approach’ to 2025 Ryder Cup | Golf Today | Golf Channel

Keegan Bradley joins Golf Today to discuss being selected as the captain for the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, including his goals and plans for the team competing at Bethpage Black. #GolfChannel #RyderCup #KeeganBradley
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Keegan Bradley to bring ‘different approach’ to 2025 Ryder Cup | Golf Today | Golf Channel
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Keegan congratulations listen man you’re you’re in your 30s you won on the PJ tour at The Travelers the Zozo before that the 19th ranked player in the world why take this job now well you know I I was asked by my peers and the Ridder cup committee and I I you know I felt an obligation to th those guys to to do this and do the best that I can Gan I know you said you were surprised shocked even by the call were you surprised that nobody asked you at any point how you would go about doing this job no because I I think that they’re looking for maybe a different approach to a captain and I think they wanted some guys that were maybe closer to playing the tour and knowing the guys and I think that’s pretty cool I I I think it’s a little bit of a different approach and with how late we are in the process of picking a captain I think it needed to be done right away well Keegan last year one of the stories of 2023 was your disappointment of being left off the team you said you didn’t feel like you were part of the boys club well now you’re the owner you’re the bouncer out front of the club you decide who’s on who’s off what type of Captain do you want to be well I never I didn’t say I wasn’t part of the boys club I I’ve never said that I I did feel like this was a little bit of a younger group um but like I said in the in the press conference I I I’m not afraid to say that I look up to these younger generation I love the way they go about their life and their job and how they are friends with everybody and they they they really pull for each other and that’s something that I I didn’t do when I first came out on tour I I felt like I needed to make everyone the enemy and they were not they were against me and it leads to a a loner life on tour and that’s one of the things I envy about them and as a captain I want to put these guys in the best position to to win this this Rider cup that’s sitting right here and I think you know going to Beth Page and having the right group is going to be really important have you heard from those guys since the news was announced yesterday Keegan any of the guys on that 2023 team that you came so close to making yourself actually I have yes I have and they they’ve been nothing but supportive and they’re very excited and I think that they’re excited about a little different approach to this uh Ridder cup staff and I think that they’re extremely hungry to come to Beth Page and win this Ridder cup Keegan you let the cameras inside your home last last year we saw the disappointment your wife Jillian was there the kids were running around at your feet when Zach Johnson made that call take us to a year later the call from Seth and from from John and from Zach what was your first conversation like with Jillian compared to one year ago man was it different I uh you know that call that was caught on Netflix was was very raw and real and one of the saddest moments in my life and you know we we took it took months you know we’re still bummed out that we didn’t get to play on that team but you know when I got the call a couple Sundays ago to be the Ryder Cup captain it took a couple days for me to have this sink in and for me to process what this meant and the responsibility to do this job is huge you owe it to your country but also to your fellow teammates to to do the right thing and to be the best Captain you can be and you know I I was very proud that to get this call and I was it felt great to get that call from Zack Johnson Keegan in Rome last year Zack admitted in one of his press conferences that the guys who had qualified automatically for the team had great influence over the six captains picks is that something you would continue in in your captaincy or would you kind of discount the the comfort and opinions of the guys who are there on points based on your own preferences I think that I I wouldn’t be picking guys on based off exactly who the team wants I think when it comes down to the last couple picks I think it’s important that the team is involved but I I’m going to take a look um analytically into who fits with who who’s already on the team who fits at Beth Page black it’s a very specific type of golf course where you need to hit it pretty far and you know you got to be a good ball Striker and so we’re going to take a look into all that um the atmosphere of Beth Page is going to be loud and and and and Rowdy and that’s a certain type of player so I I will confer with my vice captains and also with the team and we’ll figure out what’s best for the for the players to be picked on that note Keegan are you comfortable with six captains pick is is that a number that you’re going to compete or will you consider uh making that a different number going forward maybe lowering it to four perhaps to yeah we’re we’re in the process of looking at that um again I’ve I’ve only been Captain really for two days so we’re still in the very early stages of preparing for this I sort of like the idea of having Maybe four picks but regardless of how many picks you have you can take the seventh and eighth guy and it doesn’t matter so um you know the team is going to be comprised of the 12 best Americans and you know we’re going to look like I said on analytics and also who pairs well with who you’ve played for captains Davis Love and Tom Watson Keegan what did you learn from them about what they did well and perhaps what they didn’t do so well yeah they’re total polar opposite people polar opposite captains um I think that you know what I my plan is to call every Captain over the last 20 years 25 years and figure out what they could have done better what they could have done worse I think even a winning Captain would have some insight into what they wish they did differently and you know we we with Davis it was much more relaxed and players team and with Tom Watson it was much more his team with the vice Captain’s Team and and I think somewhere in the middle there is where where I would would land but again I being in the team being close to these guys now and being out there with them for the next year I’ll be out playing the same tournaments in Majors I’ll have a good sense of you know these guys and what they need if you’re going to be calling former captains for some advice is your Aunt Pat going to get a call since she did Captain in the Salim Cup team 24 years ago I’ve been on the phone with my Aunt Pat already a couple times um you know she’s my she’s my hero I I went to the solheim cup that she captained and you know she’s going to have a lot of insight into what it is to be a captain I I felt so lucky my entire career to had somebody in my own family go through all this and it’s kind of fun for us because no one else can really understand what she went through as a player and same with me to her so she’s uh my all-time favorite golfer my all-time favorite competitor and somebody that I try to model my career after well Keegan you’re also familiar with a lot of icons from other sports Michael Jordan Tom Brady Rick patino how much will you draw from other sports leaders winners from other sports as you try to build a program in a winning mentality for 2025 I’m calling in all favors from the last you know every year of my life um I’m lucky enough to have relationships with a lot of you know Hall of Fame if not greatest ever athletes and I’m really interested to speak to athletes that played in New York and know what it’s like to play Under the scrutiny of New York fans and you know I I’m going to lean on them a lot I I I really am interested in hearing what they liked and disliked about a coach I I think that that’s uh something that I haven’t been a part of in a while and I I would really enjoy to hear you know what they liked what they would say don’t do and then you know as it comes closer to the tournament I I want those guys around as much as possible I’m curious if you have a plan Keegan for galvanizing the New York fans who probably don’t need much help to be fair but is there a strategy in place because you there has to be some awareness that New York fans can turn against the team pretty quickly as well especially if you were to show up in a Red Sox hat yeah they’ve retired the Red Sox hat for a little bit but uh I you know my message to the team is going to be just how important Beth p black is to the New Yorkers you know this is their home course if you ask even some people that are members at these prestigious wingfoots and Shinx I think that they would all have such amazing things to say about Beth vage black as well and I want these fans to be a part of this team and I want Beth Page is New York’s home course I want it to be America’s Home course I want it to the guys to go out there and feel like this is our home court this is our home course and in my eyes I don’t know if there’ll ever be has ever been a greater home home field advantage than Beth paig black Keegan I know you’re preparing for every eventuality I also know that the fire still Burns deep inside you as a player are you prepared if you qualify on points to be a playing captain and how will you handle juggling all of those weighty responsibilities of player and Captain yeah so when I took the call they they made it clear to me that they really wanted me to play on the team and I really want to play on the team as well I have you know John Wood is a the manager of the Team USA which is a a position that’s never been a part of the Ridder cup before I’ll lean on him but I’ll also lean on my vice captains pretty heavily and then you know I I have a great relationship with Tiger Woods he did it at the President’s Cup and um you know I I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get there we’re we’re a year and a half out a little bit less than that and you know maybe if I get closer to where I got a chance to make the team I’ll make some arrangements and uh I would love to do that do you think your appointment represents a break with the kind of the task force methodology here Keegan in the sense that it was a small Core group of players who seem to serve as each other as captains and and vice captains and that you’re not just a generational change and much more competitively relevant than than recent captains but you’re actually kind of discarding what was put in place 10 years ago go to try to put a fresh face in there yeah I mean again I wasn’t in on any of these conversations so I don’t know if that’s their plan or not um all I know is they wanted me to be their captain and it meant a lot to me I think that me being around the guys for this year and all of next year is a pretty big advantage that not a lot of captains have ever had I’m going to be inside the ropes in tournaments in Majors playing with these guys I’m going to be in the locker room I’m going to be going to dinner I’m going to be playing practice rounds with some of the younger guys I am going to be able to access this every week I Tee It Up it’s not going to be a the captain’s flying in to check everybody out I’m going to be there day in and day out and I think that gives me a a nice insight into you know what the team will look like Keegan you have said some of the greatest days in this game and in your life have been in the Ryder Cup on Friday and Saturday in particular at mad but also some of your greatest disappointments have come in a Ridder cup Sunday for example at and surely at Glenn Eagles but when you look at where you sit today with that trophy next to you and the role that you have even with the phone calls that you’ve had the disappointments does it make it all worth it where you sit today in this role I do I uh being the Ridder Cup captain is really a heavy appointment it’s uh it’s a something that you need to take very seriously with you have a lot writing on on being the captain not only to the players but to the country as well and to the New Yorkers and Beth Page black black and you know to be able to be a winning Ridder Cup captain would be one of the be one of the greatest things you could do in this game so even even some players that are Hall of Fame greatest ever have never had the chance to do this so I think that you know it’s a very serious and heavy thing to to embark on but the rewards at the end would be remarkable hean can we get a commitment from you now that if you do actually win the writer cup at Beth Page next year you come on the show afterwards hangover permitting and open that 12year old luggage bag just so we can all find out what’s in there yeah it could be ugly there might be mold I don’t know what’s in there but I I I think that sounds great I can’t wait to be done with this suitcase I’m I’m ready to to open it up and never talk about it again um but you know I I uh the the Ridder cup is when you play in a Ridder cup your your life changes and to be a part of a r Cup team is so incredible and then you know to to be a captain is is even that much better