LIVE | Press Conference | U.S. Team Captain Keegan Bradley | Sep 23 | 2025 Ryder Cup

Keegan, it seems like the last few Ryder Cups, the tendency has been to not have all of the American players, or any of the American players play all the sessions. In fact, going back to the one with you and Phil, that became kind of an issue. Second guest, anyway, afterward. What's your philosophy on that? I mean, obviously you'd think that maybe Scottie might be in line to play all five. Well, I think you've got to take a temperature of how the week is going. We certainly have guys that can go five on our team, that we're comfortable with that. It doesn't mean they will. I think we want to see how the flow is going, see how the energy is. These players are super, super unselfish guys. So they're going to be perfectly honest with us captains and the team. They only care about us winning the Ryder Cup. So we have conversations with players about how they're feeling and go from there. Over here for a couple, Mark and then Mike one. Hey, Keegan. I just have two unrelated, one of which is in terms of captaining. How much of a difference do you think you can make even though you're not hitting a shot this week? You've been on Ryder Cups with other captains before. I know you've molded your own style here, but can you make a difference even though you're not hitting a shot? I think the captain can make a difference. It does come down to the players. I think my job is to make sure that these days before the tournaments are done right and the players are comfortable, they're having a good time, then they're relaxed. All I can do is do my very best to put them in the best position to play well. And when you come to a Ryder Cup or a team event, your regular schedule is off. So it's my job to return them as close as they can to what they would normally do. And then also making sure that they have a fun time, making sure that they enjoy the experience, and making sure that they cherish this week forever. And with regard to Bryson, you've been very vocal about the efforts he's made to come, you know, break his schedule and meet you guys. I'm curious how much of an X factor and how explosive he could be potentially for you guys this week. Yeah, I think Bryson, this is a tough thing for him to come into guys that he doesn't see every day, you know, into guys full of PGA Tour players. But he's done an exceptional job of making the extra effort, flying to Napa, flying to Atlanta, doing things that are really difficult with the schedule that he has. And he's made every effort possible and been incredible in the team room. I think Bryson, just his ability, his golfing ability alone is an X factor for our team, but also he's a really fiery player. And, you know, when you come to a Ryder Cup, you don't want guys to try to be something they're not. We have a lot of calm, mellow guys. So, you know, we need the energy from Bryson, and he brings that every day in practice rounds, in the team room, and hopefully in the tournament competition too. Thanks. Keegan, over here. A lot of chat online and on the ground about President Trump showing up tomorrow. Is that something you're factoring into your preparations? Are you concerned that it might distract from your job, which is to win the Ryder Cup? And are you worried about the extra mayhem that it might bring and the extra focus that it brings on you and your team and anyone else around here? No, definitely not. I'm deeply honored that the President of the United States is going to come support our team at the Ryder Cup. I think any time you can be around a current president is a pretty phenomenal thing. But when you're representing your country at a place like Bethpage Black in New York, having the president there to support you is something that is just absolutely incredible. And I'm really grateful for him for doing that for us. Right here on four. Hi, Keegan. Justin Thomas was just in here saying that he's basically known you for all of his career, and you're quite close to him. I was wondering how much easier does it make your life as a captain that you know so many of these players just by heart, just socially, as sort of mutual, not really friendship, but closeness? It's really, I think for me, for my captaincy, it's one of the most important things. I know these guys on a personal level that I've played on teams with these guys. I see them in Jupiter all the time. I go out to dinner with them, play practice rounds with them. I know what people there are. I know their wives. I know their kids really well. I've told them this. I'm older than all of them, but I look up to each and every one of them. They're all extremely good people. I've learned so much from this group of players. They go about their career in a much different way than I did. They want to make friendships. They want to enjoy their time. They want to celebrate their friends when they play well, and something that I've learned from each and every one of them that I'll take with me for the rest of my life. Here to 14. Keegan, these guys are all highly motivated for this, but do you feel that coming off of those who played in Rome, coming off of what they experienced, can be a little bit more inside of a push and a little bit more of a sense of kind of redemption for those guys? Yeah, I mean, I think any time you lose, you want to come back and win. But when you're at a home Ryder Cup, there's not much more motivation that you need. The fans are going to give us all that. The players in that room are going to give us that. The vice captains, the caddies, the wives, we all want to win, and this is a totally different team than was at Rome. This team is 0-0, and we want to go out this week and represent the country in Bethpage and the fans here the best we can. Mike, seven. Keegan, this is the only sports event I can think of where the entire team has to come in and do a press conference together and face the media afterwards. Can you tell us what it was like to be in that position as a team to have to come and face the media afterwards? Yeah, I think any time that you are in a public, play a sport or whatever, this is part of the job. You're expected that you come in when you win. Sometimes you've got to come in when you lose, and we come in together. And I think you, as an athlete and somebody that lives in the public eye, sometimes that's something that you have to do. It's difficult, it's tough, but that's part of the job, just like you'd come in here if you won. But again, come in as a team, and hopefully we won't do that this week. Mike, eight. Hi, Keegan. Following up on the president, he was obviously in the Yankees clubhouse the other week. Sorry, he saw a spot. Is there any plans to have him come in and talk to the team at all, give any motivation, or a phone call, perhaps, like he did with Team USA Hockey? Yeah, I think President Trump's a pretty busy guy. I'm just thrilled he's going to be here. I really look forward to what that first tee is going to look like with the president on the tee. I think this first tee at Bethpage is going to be a sporting event to remember across any sport. And then you add on the president of the United States standing there, I really think it's going to be something that everyone will remember forever. Update, team? Keegan, sorry, behind the camera. You mentioned veteran leaders on this team. How have you relied on them to bring the rookies in? J.J. was mentioning, talking to J.T. about finding his place, or earning his place on this team, and kind of coming in with that attitude as opposed to maybe shying away or being nervous about being a first-year player. I think we have a really unique group of players on our team in that we don't have any super young players and we don't have any older players. They're all sort of the same age. And what's really unique about this team is they all really take care of each other. J.J. Spahn's the U.S. Open champion, and he's willing to go to his peers and ask for advice and how to go about this. And these veteran players are always open to helping players. Forget about if it's the Ryder Cup. They want to help J.J. play better at the Travelers or wherever it is. And when it comes to the Ryder Cup, they rally around each other and they rally around the rookies and I'm really proud of the veterans and the older players for what they've done for our team. Brief follow-up, does that make your job easier, or how do you sort of, being a peer as well, kind of balance the role of captain with having sort of these maybe not assistant captains but veteran players? Yeah, I think it makes my job a lot easier when our veteran players are so open to help. And I had that as well. Jim Furyk was on teams that I was on that helped me, Phil, Mickelson, Tiger Woods. I think when you come into these team events, you really need to rely on those older players. Go ahead, Doug. Keegan, when you take stock of a player's career, public, media, players, whatever, you look at majors, you look at total wins, how much should a Ryder Cup be included in measuring someone's career, whether it's personal record or how many winning teams you've played on? I think it's a huge part of our game. I think the only two things in the golf world that you are when you retire is either a major winner or a Ryder Cupper. No matter what happens, you look at that guy. I remember watching events as a kid and my dad saying he's a Ryder Cupper or he's a major champion, and that never goes away. That's with you forever. And I think the Ryder Cup has become such a big stage for us and what we do in our career. When you can go out there and perform out here in this level and make an impact on your country, I think that's up there with anything you can achieve in the game. When you think of great Ryder Cup players of all time, who comes to mind? Paul Azinger, Phil Mickelson, Payne Stewart, Justin Leonard. Justin Leonard's putt on 17 at Brookline, I was there, it changed the course of my life. I think of players like that. I think of Jordan Spieth, I think of Justin Thomas. I think these guys, a lot of the guys on our team now are trying to carve their legacy in this event. Wrap it up over on Mic 9. Keegan, you talked a little bit about the veterans' advice to these rookies that are playing, but those four guys specifically, why do you think they're so well-fitted to not only play but succeed in an event like this? Who's that? The four, quote-unquote, rookies for you guys. Yeah, well, I think one of our rookies is J.J. Spahn, who won the U.S. Open this year at Oakmont. That's a pretty amazing feat. And Cameron Young and all these guys that are rookies, they performed at the highest level when they needed to to make the team. And I can tell you from experience, coming down the stretch of the playoffs to the end of the PGA Tour, trying to make the team, being a bubble guy, I think is the hardest amount of pressure that I've ever played under. So these guys went out in the last month or two of the season when if they didn't play the way they did, they wouldn't be here. And if you can go out there and play under those conditions and win under those conditions, you can play well anywhere. Great. Thanks for your time, Keegan. Thank you. We appreciate it.