Keegan Bradley had one of the best years of his professional career, winning the Travelers Championship, posting six top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, spending time inside the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
He doesn’t rate it very highly, however.
“It’s an F,” Bradley said Tuesday in the Bahamas, where he is competing in this week’s Hero World Challenge.
The U.S. Ryder Cup captain said he’s still dealing with the fallout from the loss in September to Europe at Bethpage, where a furious last-day comeback came up short in a 15–13 defeat.
“It’s a complicated question because I’m really proud of the way I’ve played. I think in a lot of ways it’s the best year of my career,” Bradley said. “My rookie year I won twice with a major, so that’s going to be tough to beat. But with everything that was going on, I’m really proud of the way that I played.
“But when you factor in losing the Ryder Cup, I mean, it’s an F ... you’ve got to go and win that and this grade’s different. It’s really tough to grade. I was talking to my coach, he said, ‘remember, you won this year.’ I was like, no, I don’t remember that at all. It was a unique year. I think a year that really no other player has ever experienced. I’m proud of the way I played certainly, but the end of the year was difficult.”
Bradley, 39, has eight PGA Tour victories and is ranked 14th in OWGR. But the Ryder Cup, where he elected not to play despite being a prime candidate to be on the team, still lingers more than two months later.
“The darkest time of my life probably,” he said. “I don’t know how else to describe it. Certainly, definitely of my career. There’s always this letdown after a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup regardless of the outcome because the emotions are so extreme. It’s Ryder Cup hangover and you’re just exhausted and you’re down, you know. That takes a toll on you.
“But there’s just ... it just was a tough time. Still is. But to be honest with you, the last couple weeks I’ve felt more like myself. Getting back, getting ready to play tournaments, playing the Skins Game, getting ready to come play here. Really, it’s been tough for all of us; not just me, the players as well. I feel like every time I see a player on the team here I want to just go give him a hug and sit down and chat. But I’m grateful for everybody. I’m in a unique position where I could make another team, which has never been done. I would love to do that.”
Bradley won the Skins Game on Friday in Florida, besting Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele.
He got the Ryder Cup captaincy in July 2024 after Tiger Woods—who deliberated over the decision for months—turned it down. Woods, the tournament host, in a rather cryptic reply Tuesday when asked if he wanted the 2027 captaincy, said, “I haven’t been asked.”
The PGA of America would normally be choosing its captain by the spring of next year. That it hasn’t engaged in any dialogue with Woods—who the organization clearly wanted last time—is at least odd.
Bradley chuckled at Woods’s answer.
Bradley offers thoughts on possible Tiger Woods Ryder Cup captaincy
“I think if Tiger wants to do this, he’s going to do it,” Bradley said. “Tiger is not only a hero to all of us that would be on his team, but he’s also an incredible leader and a person that everyone would love to play for. But I’m pretty sure when he wants to do this, he’s going to get to be able to do it.”
As for Bradley’s own ambitions, he’d love to qualify for this third Ryder Cup team and become the rare player to play after being captain. Bradley said it’s never been done, but Raymond Floyd, who captained the 1989 team to a 14–14 tie, was selected to the 1993 team captained by Tom Watson and was part of a U.S. victory, becoming the oldest player at age 51 to compete in the Ryder Cup.
Being a captain again is more complicated. Davis Love III is the last U.S. captain to do it twice. Before that, it was Jack Nickalus.
“I have this like gaping hole in my career now that I don’t know that I'll ever be able to fill,” Bradley said. “This isn’t something that you lose the Masters, you lose a tournament, I’m going to work extra hard to get back and win.
“Being the captain of the Ryder Cup team is not something you can work hard for, it’s just something that’s sort of elected on you. I don't know. Of course, I would love to do it again, I would love to avenge that loss, but that’s not up to me. I don’t think that’s fair for me to come out here and say that. But I would love to do it again at some point. I don’t know if that will ever happen, probably won’t. I think if you ask any losing captain if they would like to do it again, they would all want another shot.”
More Golf from Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Keegan Bradley, Still Stung by Ryder Cup Defeat, Harshly Grades His Year.
