Ryder Cup: Will Bradley be chosen? Analysis of the remaining 6 spots

The Tour Championship Defines the FedEx Cup Champion

The PGA Tour is preparing to crown its season champion of the FedEx Cup at the Tour Championship, an event where the winner takes all. The competition kicks off this Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The world number one, Scottie Scheffler, will not have tee shots this time, as the tour has modified the format, with the 30 golfers starting the traditional 72-hole tournament at par. For many golfers, the event at East Lake has added significance, as the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, New York, is just over a month away. Six golfers have already secured their place on the U.S. team: Scheffler, the U.S. Open winner, J.J. Spaun, the two-time major champion, Xander Schauffele, the LIV Golf League captain, Bryson DeChambeau, and PGA Tour veterans Russell Henley and Harris English. The captain of the American team, Keegan Bradley, will announce his six selections on August 27, three days after the final round of the Tour Championship. Will Bradley pick himself to play at Bethpage Black? Who are the players most likely to make the team? Which golfers could surprise and earn a coveted spot?

Should Bradley Self-Select?

I think Bradley will ultimately pick himself because he’s one of the top 12 American golfers right now.

Mark Schlabach

The six golfers mentioned qualified for the team on points, and Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, and Patrick Cantlay are also likely to secure their place. This would potentially leave three spots open, and it would be difficult to find three more deserving golfers than Bradley at this moment. He should have been on the team that was outplayed by the Europeans at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, near Rome, in 2023. He is extremely competitive, played frequently at Bethpage Black during his college career at St. John’s, and New York fans will support a player from the Northeast, even if he is a die-hard Boston sports fan. Bradley’s results haven’t been excellent since he won the Travelers Championship, but he played better with a tie for 17th at the BMW Championship and qualified for the Tour Championship. Somehow, Keegan and those in charge of the U.S. team have found themselves in a sort of unfavorable scenario of their own making. In any other Ryder Cup year, Keegan (currently ranked 10th in the standings) would be an intriguing decision for the captain. Even before seeing what he does at the Tour Championship, it can be argued that he should be on the team and also that some other players should be chosen ahead of him. The problem, of course, is that it’s Keegan who makes that decision. And after retracting what he said at the beginning of the process (that he wouldn’t be part of the team unless he qualified for it) after his victory at the Travelers, everything indicates that he will choose himself. He has even had players who could be part of the team, like Patrick Cantlay, and players who probably won’t, like Rickie Fowler, arguing in his favor. Everything is building towards a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. As Rory McIlroy pointed out, being a playing captain is an extremely difficult (perhaps impossible) task, and if Keegan picks himself, he will not only add a double burden of pressure to Keegan’s plate, but will also turn that into the main story and talking point leading up to the event and, likely, beyond it. If I were cheering for the US team, I probably wouldn’t want Keegan to pick himself, but it seems like most fans want exactly that outcome. Either way, I’ll bring the popcorn.

Is it Possible to be a Player Captain?

Rory revealed that he turned down the opportunity to be the player-captain of the European team at the next Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027. McIlroy said he didn’t even weigh the opportunity because he didn’t think it could be done.

Mark Schlabach

There’s no doubt that a Ryder Cup captain has many responsibilities when it comes to team meetings, media obligations, opening ceremonies, etc. But it could also be argued that once Bradley picks his team, the hardest part of his job is over. He spent the last two years evaluating golfers, analyzing statistics and analytics, and building team camaraderie. Team schedules and dinner plans would already be set. McIlroy said that having a playing captain would inhibit a team’s ability to field its best lineup in each session. He argued that a playing captain would not be able to compete in both sessions in a day because they would have to fulfill their duties as a leader. If Bradley and his playing partner defeated a European pair 4 and 3 in the Friday morning session, I don’t think there’s any doubt he’d be back on the course in the afternoon. I think Bradley has plenty of confidence in vice-captains Jim Furyk, Gary Woodland, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, and Brandt Snedeker to run things.

Which Player Could Surprise?

Three former University of Georgia golfers, English and Henley on the U.S. side and Sepp Straka on the European side, will play at Bethpage Black. I think you could argue that a fourth, Brian Harman, also deserves to be there. The former Open Championship winner secured his fourth PGA Tour victory at the Valero Texas Open in April and tied for tenth at The Open at Royal Portrush. He tied for third at the RBC Heritage and was solo eighth at the Travelers. Harman is 12th in points before this week’s Tour Championship and likely needs another good result to be seriously considered. He was an excellent match play competitor as a junior and had a 2-2 record in his Ryder Cup debut at Marco Simone. Sam Burns seemed to be out of sight in 16th place in points, but tied for fourth place in the BMW Championship to gain some momentum. Burns won the last edition of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in 2023 and leads the tour in strokes gained: putting (.921), which cannot be overlooked in the Ryder Cup.

On the US side, I think the guy who has really made a strong case to be a pick that isn’t being discussed too much is Maverick McNealy. Although McNealy hasn’t won on the Tour this year, he has been one of the most consistent players this season, accumulating 10 top-25 finishes, including seven top-10s and a runner-up. McNealy is a top-25 player in the OWGR and a top-30 player according to DataGolf. He is the 13th best American right now in strokes gained and finished solo third at the BMW this week, which puts him in 11th place in the Ryder Cup standings. The Stanford graduate is by no means a safe choice, but now that he’s heading to his first appearance at the Tour Championship, after one of his best performances of the season, he still has the opportunity to make a strong impression on Keegan & Co.

What’s more important: recent form or Ryder Cup experience?

The answer is obviously both, but if each of those factors were on opposite sides of a seesaw, I think Ryder Cup experience would slightly outweigh recent form. Match play is no longer part of the PGA Tour and having to play that format with the energy of thousands of fans around you, there’s something to be said for not being overwhelmed by the moment because you’ve already experienced it. That’s why players like Cantlay and Morikawa will likely get the nod despite not playing their best golf lately.

Who are your six selections for the US team and why?

As mentioned above, I believe Thomas, Morikawa, and Cantlay are practically locks to make the team, which leaves a handful of golfers vying for three spots. Entering East Lake, I’d say Cameron Young has the most momentum due to recent form, putting, and course fit. He hits it a mile off the tee and is a New York native. If Bradley doesn’t pick himself, I think it will probably come down to Ben Griffin, McNealy, Chris Gotterup, Burns, and Harman for one or two spots. If I were Bradley, I’d stick with experience and pick Burns or Harman, depending on what happens this week at East Lake. At this moment, I think the six players I would choose, and to be clear, these are not the ones I think Keegan will choose, are Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Cam Young, and Chris Gotterup. The first four are obvious, in my opinion, given a combination of past history in the event and recent form. Although Thomas, Morikawa, and Cantlay have played well enough to make it to East Lake, they are benefiting from the former, while nobody embodies the latter better than Griffin, who has been a force this season, winning twice (adding nine top-10s) and continuing to back up his game tournament after tournament. The last two selections are the most difficult and there’s likely to be some drama. I don’t think Keegan can reasonably pick himself over Young, who has come on lately and not only scored his first PGA Tour win recently, but also elevated his game and made it to the Tour Championship. Not to mention how well his game could fit at Bethpage. Gotterup is a total wildcard. He barely made it to the Tour Championship after a below-average week at the BMW and, although he shone during the overseas swing, there may not be enough tape, so to speak, to rely on. Conversely, that’s also the reason why he could be the right kind of pick. The possibilities for the American team will not be reduced to how good or not Gotterup is at Bethpage, but just as Bob MacIntyre did for the Euros in Rome, he could add exactly the kind of extra energy that the team might need from its 12th member. The opposing argument would say that Bradley would add that and more if he were the twelfth man, but choosing Gotterup also achieves something else: it allows Bradley to be the captain.