Just over three months left for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage, and things have taken a fresh turn in Team U.S. now. For months, team captain Keegan Bradley has been pushing the narrative of being the playing captain in the prestigious event. The 39-year-old hasn’t featured in the national squad to face Team Europe for nearly 11 years now. But he still wants to make the team and represent them on the course, not only off it. However, Bradley did claim that he will only play if he qualifies on merit. And after his recent win, he has taken one step closer to achieving his dream.
After a grueling test at TPC River Highlands, Bradley beat the final round favorite, Tommy Fleetwood, in a heartbreaking contest. The Englishman, who was chasing his first PGA Tour win, blundered on the last hole for a bogey. The Team U.S. captain managed a birdie to switch places with Fleetwood on the leaderboard. That gave him the 2025 Travelers Championship title, the second of his career.
Excited about his win, Bradley was approached by Amanda Balionis while he was celebrating with one of his sons. The PGA Tour pro was asked, “I know you said you would only be a playing captain if you earned it on points. Have you convinced yourself that you would be added to this team now?” A simple question by the CBS reporter that could have been answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Instead, Bradley chose to respond with, “Go USA,” leaving his position on being a playing captain a mystery. Despite receiving a lot of criticism from experts about his plans, he undoubtedly wants to be a part of the team. But such a cryptic response has created more mystery around Bradley’s position over being the playing captain at Bethpage.
Despite the vague response, the 2025 Travelers Championship win will put Keegan Bradley in an advantageous position on the Team U.S. leaderboard. Let’s see where he and everyone else at the top of the table at TPC River Highlands should finish in the rankings.
Keegan Bradley jumps up close to Ryder Cup qualification
Before the conclusion of the 2025 Travelers Championship, Keegan Bradley sat at 17th on the Ryder Cup leaderboard. He had 4245.22 points to his name and was 5,164.79 points away from tying for the 6th position. The win at TPC River Highlands, Bradley has earned 3,600 Ryder Cup points. That will push him up to 9th place. A few more high-ranking finishes should confirm Team U.S. captain’s place in the top 6 on merit.
After finishing tied for 2nd in the last Signature event of the season, Russell Henley will take the 6th spot in the rankings, pushing Collin Morikawa down to 7th. Ben Griffin will also get close to the world #4 after his T14 finish to the latter’s T42 in Connecticut this weekend.
On the European leaderboard, the 2nd place finish tied with Henley should give Tommy Fleetwood 334 Ryder Cup points. Currently sitting at 7th, the strong finish should propel him to the 2nd spot on the leaderboard with no competition from fellow Englishman, Tyrrell Hatton. In fact, 4th-placed Robert MacIntyre should also receive enough points to surpass the LIV Golf pro by 0.18 points after his T17 finish at TPC River Highlands. It’s fair to say that things are certainly heating up on the Ryder Cup leaderboards.