Despite the distractions while serving as the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley was justifiably proud of his 2025 season, surpassed in his mind only by his 2011 rookie year when he won twice, including the PGA Championship.
Yet when asked to assign a letter grade to a season in which he won his eighth PGA Tour title among six top-10s and 11 top-25 finishes, Bradley, ranked 14th in the world, couldn’t see giving himself anything but an F.
You can probably guess why.
“That’s a complicated question because I’m really proud of the way I’ve played. I think in a lot of ways it’s the best year of my career,” Bradley said Tuesday at Albany, Bahamas, where he is competing in this week’s Hero World Challenge. “My rookie year I won twice with a major, so that’s going to be tough to beat. But with everything that was going on, I’m really proud of the way that I played.
“But when you factor in losing the Ryder Cup, I mean, it’s an F. You’ve got to go and win that,” he continued. “I was talking to my coach, he said, ‘Remember, you won this year.’ I was like, no, I don’t remember that at all. It was a unique year. I think a year that really no other player has ever experienced. I’m proud of the way I played certainly, but the end of the year was difficult.”
Keegan Bradley reacts to making the winning putt on the 18th green during the final round of the Travelers Championship in June.
Bradley, 39, has been forthcoming with his struggles coming to terms with Europe’s 15-13 victory in September at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. Just last week, while earning $2.1 million to win the reboot of the Skins Game, Bradley admitted that losing the 45th Ryder Cup, despite a furious final-day American rally, still was eating at him.
“I mean, the darkest time of my life probably,” he said Tuesday. “I mean, I don’t know how else to describe it. Certainly, definitely of my career. There’s always this letdown after a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup regardless of the outcome because the emotions are so extreme. It’s Ryder Cup hangover and you’re just exhausted and you’re down, you know. That takes a toll on you. But there’s just, it just was, it just was a tough time. Still is.
“But to be honest with you, the last couple weeks I’ve felt more like myself.”
Ryder Cup disappointments aside—including losses in 2012 and ’14 as a player—Bradley would welcome the chance to serve as captain again. He realizes it’s not up to him. Or that he is not alone in seeking a mulligan.
“I have this like gaping hole in my career now that I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to fill,” he admitted. “This isn’t something that you lose the Masters, you lose a tournament, ‘I’m going to work extra hard to get back and win.’ Being the captain of the Ryder Cup team is not something you can work hard for, it’s just something that’s sort of elected on you.
“Of course I would love to do it again, I would love to avenge that loss, but that’s not up to me. I don’t think that’s fair for me to come out here and say that. I don’t know if that will ever happen, probably won’t. I think if you ask any losing captain if they would like to do it again, they would all want another shot.”
