'Bradley avoids sporting masochism to make Europe's Ryder Cup harder'

2025 Ryder Cup

Venue: Bethpage Black, New York Dates: 26-28 September

Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website

So it will be golf buggy rather than bag for captain Keegan Bradley at next month's Ryder Cup in New York.

To most informed observers, common sense has prevailed. From the moment he took the captaincy of the American side, the 39-year-old was told it would be too much to play as well as lead his side.

And yet it was a close-run thing. There is a sense of self-sacrifice from the skipper for overlooking his own playing ambitions.

Bradley admits "it hurts" not to be teeing it up at Bethpage for the match on 26-28 September, but that can surely inspire those players he has selected.

They know their captain has put them ahead of himself. At a stroke he has extinguished any notion of self-interest. "It hurts, for sure. I mean, I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups," Bradley told BBC Sport.

"But then you've got to quickly remind yourself what an honour it is to be the Ryder Cup captain. So many players that are much more deserving of me never got the opportunity to do this.

"This is the ultimate job in golf."

So the former US PGA champion has gone with his initial gut instinct of taking the job to be a captain rather than a player.

But Bradley's win in June at the Travelers Championship did alter his thinking for a while. His form thereafter was not quite compelling enough to force a historic decision.

He claims he has known for some time that he would not play, but why not make that public to end the fevered speculation that built ahead of his announcement? "It crossed my mind," he said.

"But I also wanted to make sure of this decision. I just wanted to be treated like another player on the team and we wouldn't announce a player wasn't going to make the team.

"I wanted to play it out and see how the season ended, but you know, this decision was difficult for sure."

There are good reasons why no-one since Arnold Palmer has been a player-captain. The Ryder Cup has grown into one of the world's biggest sporting events and captains face a myriad of demands.

They have to shape pairings, the order in which to send out their partnerships and get a reliable handle on how each member of their team is playing.

Are team members faking it when they say they are playing well? Do they need cajoling or taking down a peg or two?

There are speeches to make at ceremonies that can shape the tone of the entire week and decisions have to be made on the run.

Where would be the headspace to consider your own golf swing and putting stroke?

Especially with every single shot and decision coming under unprecedented scrutiny. It would have been sporting masochism to pick himself.

This was probably as close as we will ever get to having another playing captain in a Ryder Cup. In truth, the PGA of America put Bradley in an invidious position by appointing him long before his days at the top of the game are done.

As a result, it could be argued, the American team have been denied one of their top dozen golfers for the 12-man team charged with trying to win back the trophy.

Bradley's form and playing passion ticked every one of the boxes he cited for the six players he chose as wildcard picks. "They're all incredibly gritty players, tough players, great competitors," the skipper said.

"They've all proven themselves at the highest level. And again, they've played basically in the bubble of the Ryder Cup for the last month and a half and performed at the highest level."

Bradley insists their current playing standards made it easy for him to leave himself out. But if someone else was captain, Bradley would have felt aggrieved to be ignored in the way that he was by Zach Johnson two years ago.

Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay were no-brainers. They bring vital experience and strong matchplay credentials - especially Cantlay, who has a 15-6-1 record in team competitions for the United States.

Cameron Young, a New Yorker who set the Bethpage Black course record as an amateur, won his first PGA Tour title only three weeks ago. His form and background made him a natural selection.

Ben Griffin's consistency has been stellar and as someone who gave up the game to work in an office before returning to stardom, he provides a romantic perspective that could sit well in the locker room.

Sam Burns' putting will worry Luke Donald's European team, but Collin Morikawa's patchy form in 2025 perhaps makes the two-time major champion the most fortunate of the picks.

Bradley's side contains four rookies and is a transitional line-up, one that will seek to stoke and capitalise on the expected bearpit atmosphere. New Yorkers will ensure this will be hostile territory for Europe.

Donald is probably disappointed Bradley decided not to play. America are likely to be more cohesive as a result and all 12 of their team can concentrate solely on playing.

But Europe's skipper is cool and analytical. He will assess the qualities Bradley has recruited - renowned ball strikers with distance as well as touch on and around the greens.

Those are the qualities he will want from his six wildcards, which will be announced in London on Monday.

Whoever Europe select, Bradley expects them to prove formidable opposition. "They have an incredibly stacked team," he told me.

"I think one of the best European teams ever. And they may have the best Ryder Cup captain ever as well in Luke Donald. So they're going to be really difficult, and I think everyone on our team knows that."

While this Ryder Cup will not be quite as intriguing without the prospect of a playing captain, it still promises to be an enthralling event.

Europe are desperate to end the current run of five convincing home wins and it feels as though America have given themselves their best chance of thwarting the visitors' ambitions.