Keegan Bradley was always facing an uphill battle at the Ryder Cup, with Luke Donald already having one victory as captain on his resume heading into Bethpage Black.

It caught everyone, including Keegan Bradley it seems, off-guard when he was named as the captain of Team USA for the 2025 Ryder Cup.

What was never in any doubt was Bradley’s passion for the event, as well as his knowledge of Bethpage Black. But clearly, it was a gamble from the PGA of America to turn to the 39-year-old when he was playing some of the best golf of his career.

And perhaps Bradley’s inability to give everything to the captaincy hurt him.

The decision Keegan Bradley made on Friday at the Ryder Cup which surprised Edoardo Molinari

Europe ended up winning 15-13, but only after a stunning fightback from the home side on Sunday. Nevertheless, Donald’s men were able to win one match in the singles and still lift the trophy.

With that, it was hard not to look back on some of the American skipper’s decisions and wonder what could have been different.

One call which baffled many was sticking by Collin Morikawa and Harris English for both foursomes sessions. They lost 5&4 on Friday morning. But they were sent out for a second time on Saturday, losing again to Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood.

Bradley defended keeping Morikawa and English together. But speaking on Fried Egg Golf, Edoardo Molinari admitted that he was taken aback when he saw Saturday’s pairings late the previous night.

“For the second time, I would say I was very surprised. I think the first time, if you want to play everyone on the first day, you have to make sacrifices somewhere. And I guess, in matchplay, anything can happen, like the differences between these guys is not that big. So they could have easily gone and played well and won the game,” he said.