When the golfing world tuned in to Keegan Bradley<\/a>\u2019s press conference on Wednesday to learn his six captain\u2019s picks for the US Ryder Cup<\/a> team, the \u201cwill he, won\u2019t he\u201d question still hung in the air unanswered. Would Bradley pick himself as the first playing captain<\/a> since Arnold Palmer in 1963? <\/p>\n In the end, the cat slipped out of the bag accidentally, halfway through a rather awkward process of Zoom-calling each player to hear their thoughts. Bradley\u2019s fourth pick, Cameron Young, was asked if his Ryder Cup<\/a> teammates knew he had won the junior Ryder Cup in the past. \u201cSam played with me, so he will remember it,\u201d said Young. \u201cSam\u201d referred to Sam Burns, who hadn\u2019t yet been announced. With Burns therefore included, and Patrick Cantlay<\/a> highly likely to be on the team, that left no room for Bradley to choose himself.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad it\u2019s over,\u201d Bradley smiled, once Burns was confirmed, as golf\u2019s biggest talking point of the past few weeks was finally put to bed. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Bradley has not named himself as a player for next month at Bethpage Black, Long Island (PA Archive)<\/p>\n In truth, Bradley made the decision not to play some time ago. Yes, he had considered himself a genuine option to play, he admitted, particularly earlier in the season and after his win at the Travelers Championship<\/a> got tongues wagging. But the late-season form of Cantlay, Young and Burns made the call much simpler to make.<\/p>\n \u201cThese guys stepped up and played their way onto the team,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m extremely proud of that. It was a difficult decision but one I\u2019m happy with \u2026 If the team was better with me on it, I\u2019d do that. I know 100 per cent this is the right choice. They played incredibly down the stretch to make my decision easier.\u201d<\/p>\n Bradley could have shut down the noise far sooner, ruling himself out of the running days or even weeks ago to give some certainty to his selection process. He knew the practical and logistical challenges of playing in a Ryder Cup<\/a> while making decisions about pairings: the two tasks are impossible to focus on simultaneously, and he would have ended up delegating much of his role to vice-captain Jim Furyk.<\/p>\n But perhaps he was savvy in allowing the rumour mill to swirl a little longer, to let the idea of picking himself fester a while. The role of a Ryder Cup captain can be overblown, but one very real responsibility is to foster team unity. By raising the idea of selecting himself, Bradley was able to turn this rather mundane press conference into a display of selflessness, in which he gave up his personal ambitions for the good of the team. It must have been oh so tempting to play after the disappointment, and arguably injustice, of missing out in Rome two years ago, an emotional moment captured by the Netflix series Full Swing. And yet the captain put his own desires to one side.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Bradley with European captain Luke Donald. The modern-day role of the Ryder Cup skipper makes playing as well logistically challenging (Getty)<\/p>\n \u201cIt broke my heart not to play,\u201d he said. \u201cYou work forever to make these teams, but I was chosen to do a job. This was the way I could be the best captain for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Time will tell whether this was the right decision, but the American team looks a formidable one on home soil as it aims to wrestle back the Ryder Cup from European hands. <\/a><\/p>\n Bradley had warm words to say about his six automatic picks. Scottie Scheffler is \u201ca natural born leader\u201d. JJ Spaun is \u201clikeable and genuine, a great guy\u201d. Xander Schauffele<\/a> is \u201chumble and mentally tough, universally loved \u2013 our glue guy\u201d. Russell Henley: \u201cone of my favourite people, nice on the surface but super competitive, gutsy\u201d. Harris English is \u201cso tough mentally and plays really well on tough courses\u201d \u2013 and we know Bethpage Black is one of those. Bryson DeChambeau<\/a> qualified while also playing on the LIV tour,<\/a> which Bradley saluted, saying \u201che\u2019s gone above and beyond what I\u2019d ask of a player\u201d.<\/p>\n Each automatic selection had their bag lined up on stage with their name embroidered on the front. Then came the captain\u2019s picks: Justin Thomas<\/a> and Collin Morikawa were always likely to be included, having had solid seasons and plenty of Ryder Cup experience to call upon \u2013 this is Thomas\u2019s fourth and it makes the 32-year-old the veteran of the team. They were both invited to a recent dinner hosted by Bradley, along with the six automatic picks. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Sam Burns (left) and Collin Morikawa have both earned captain\u2019s picks (PA Wire)<\/p>\n![\"Bradley](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/f353a3a9d2168c617217703e1472ffe9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU2MzkwNTUy-2.77748294.jpg\")
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