The PGA of America has officially named Keegan Bradley as the captain of the 2025 Ryder Cup. The 45th playing of the Ryder Cup will be held at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. The selection of Bradley was a bit of a wild card as he’s never had any form of captaincy in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, he’s only 38 years old (he’ll be 39 when the tournament is hosted), and he is still competing weekly on the PGA Tour.
The selection of Bradley as the captain is a risk that could ultimately turn into a massive reward, as the 2025 Cup is an extremely important one for the United States to build chemistry going forward. The United States has not been able to build any Ryder Cup momentum in a very long time. Since the turn of the century there have been 11 Ryder Cup tournaments and the U.S. has a 3-8 record in those cups. They’ve won all of their cups on home soil, which is what 2025 will be….a home game. Getting a win at home in 2025 will be extremely important so the team can go into Europe in 2027, a place they haven’t won since 1993, with control of the Cup.
With the 2025 captain selection all taken care of, here’s a way too early look at 2027 and who could be in control of the team that will look to bring the United States to Ryder Cup glory in Europe for the first time since 1993.
Tiger Woods
PARIS, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 30: Tiger Woods of the United States reacts during singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 30, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Woods will captain a Ryder Cup team soon. In fact, Woods was offered the 2025 role but he turned it down. To me, Woods is the perfect candidate for the 2027 captaincy. Winning in Europe is going to be extremely important for the U.S. and having Tiger lead the group of guys should be an extra motivator to get the job done. Do you think anyone on that team in 2027 is going to want to let their captain Tiger Woods down?
Steve Stricker
ROME, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: Steve Stricker, Vice Captain of Team United States poses for a photograph during the United States Team Portraits at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on September 28, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Steve Stricker was my choice for the 2025 team (I love the Bradley choice by the way – I just was totally blindsided by it). Stricker has captained a Ryder Cup team and a Presidents Cup team and both of them were absolute routs by the United States. Now could you say that the U.S. has a talent advantage in both of those cups? Yes, you could. But both tournaments that Stricker captained you could tell that all 12 players loved the guy. If he’s the man selected for 2027 then you know all 12 guys on the roster will be ready to go for their captain as they were in 2017 and 2021.
Fred Couples
ROME, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: Fred Couples, Vice Captain of Team United States poses for a photograph during the United States Team Portraits at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on September 28, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Fred Couples has been a vice-captain for the past few Ryder Cups and has also been the captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup three times. With all of his captaincy and vice captaincy history, he certainly feels like he’d be a good choice to run the team in 2027.
Stewart Cink
ROME, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: Stewart Cink, Vice Captain of Team United States poses for a photograph during the United States Team Portraits at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on September 28, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Stewart Cink was a vice captain for the United States in 2023 at the Ryder Cup in Rome and it feels like he will captain a team one day. If he gets more vice-captaincy experience between the Ryder Cup in 2025 and the Presidents Cups in 2024 and 2026, it weouldn’t be a shock to see him lead the U.S. in 2027.
Phil Mickelson
KOHLER, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 26: Vice-captain Phil Mickelson of team United States celebrate during their win over Team Europe during Sunday Singles Matches of the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits on September 26, 2021 in Kohler, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
When Phil Mickelson was one of the first players to leave the PGA Tour for the LIV Tour it felt like his chance of being a Ryder Cup captain in the future was over. However, with the decision to shock some and choose Keegan Bradley, it seems like Mickelson being a captain in the future is a possibility again. If things between the PIF and PGA Tour are finally patched up by 2027 (hopefully they will be) there has to be the possibility of Mickelson leading the charge.
Keegan Bradley
AUCHTERARDER, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 25: Keegan Bradley of the United States chips during practice ahead of the 2014 Ryder Cup on the PGA Centenary course at the Gleneagles Hotel on September 25, 2014 in Auchterarder, Scotland. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
If things go well for Keegan Bradley in 2025 then why not bring him back? Things went so well for the European side in 2023 that they are going back to Luke Donald for 2025. So if things go well for Bradley in 2025 they should pull a page out of the European book and let him lead the team again in 2027.
