DORAL, Fla. — Going with a longtime participant in the Ryder Cup as a player, assistant and former captain was the key reason that Jim Furyk got the job again for the 2027 match at Adare Manor in Ireland.
Furyk has previously captained a losing U.S. Ryder Cup team on the road, but it wasn’t a concern, said Keegan Bradley, the most recent U.S. captain who was involved in the selection of the new—but old—captain.
“I think that’s the point you wouldn’t hear from the players; I think the players are excited,” Bradley said Wednesday at Doral, where the Cadillac Championship begins Thursday. “I think the best thing to do is to have a known commodity, a sort of reset here.”
Furyk was an assistant on Bradley’s team that lost in September at Bethpage Black and he captained the winning U.S. Presidents Cup team that Bradley played on in 2024 at Royal Montreal.
But his captaincy in France at Le Golf National in 2018 where the U.S. suffered a humbling 17½ to 10½ defeat and Furyk’s association with mostly losing efforts had many wondering if the PGA of America should go in a different direction.
Bradley, who as a past captain was part of a selection committee that also included Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth along with three PGA of America executives, ultimately helped make the decision and was on the call last week when Furyk was informed he would get the job for a second time.
As for any others who were considered, such as Justin Leonard and Stewart Cink, Bradley did not get into specifics.
“Jim has the respect of the guys and he’s been around all of us ... he’s been involved in like 15 in a row,” said Bradley, referring to Furyk having played in his first Ryder Cup in 1997. “He was the captain at the Presidents Cup and he’s been part of the system and I think he brings a lot of experience, learned a lot over the years and, in fact, somebody that we all really look up to.”
Bradley was the surprise choice of the PGA of America in 2024 to captain the 2025 team after Tiger Woods turned down the position.
Woods was in line for next year’s captaincy but pulled his name out of consideration last month after the traffic incident that led to a suspicion of DUI charge.
“I think, certainly, when he’s ready, he’s going to do it,” Bradley said of Woods. “All of us players, I know me personally, I would just kill to play for Tiger, for him to be my captain. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that chance, but for me that would be so fun. Cool. And when he’s ready, he’s just going to say I’m going to do and we’re all going to be thrilled for it.”
Bradley says his chance to repeat as captain was never considered
As for Bradley getting another shot at the captaincy—another idea floated in the media—he said it was never really a possibility.
“I think that having somebody that was close to making the team isn’t really what the position is about,” said Bradley, who was in the running to make his own team and considered picking himself as an at-large player. “I don’t know if they totally expected me to be where I sat. I was pretty high-ranking in the world [he is now 27th in the Official World Ranking]. I don’t know if they wanted to go through that again. But I think more, they’re willing to go back to the more traditional world.”
Asked if Furyk, 55, formally interviewed for the job, Bradley simply said: “He’s been an integral part of our teams, again, for, like, 20, 30 years. I know as a losing captain myself ... I don’t know if he ever thought he was going to get this chance, so I think that it’s a pretty great feeling for him to get another shot at this.
“I would love to have another chance, because it's part of my soul that's torn out, and I would love to get a chance to revenge that, and I'm happy Jim's got that.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Keegan Bradley Explains How Jim Furyk Was Selected Again to Be U.S. Ryder Cup Captain.
