Keegan Bradley: I never talked to anyone about Ryder Cup captaincy

Keegan Bradley aims to be a playing captain in next year's Ryder Cup, but only if he qualifies automatically for the United States team.

Bradley was a surprise choice to lead the home side at Bethpage Black in September 2025 after 15-time major winner Tiger Woods turned down the role.

The 38-year-old has told Woods he can be "as involved as he wants to be" and admitted he was uncomfortable that some of his "idols" had been overlooked.

Stewart Cink and Fred Couples, vice-captains under Zach Johnson in 2023, had been viewed as more likely candidates.

"I didn’t have one conversation with anybody about this until I was told I was the captain two weeks ago," Bradley said.

"I felt funny after the call because I don’t think I reacted in the way that they were expecting. I was in complete shock. It was heavy and I was a little bit uncomfortable with some of the guys, my idols, that were looked over for this position and I needed a second to figure that out.

"But something Seth [Waugh, PGA of America chief executive] said to me was, 'your number was called, it’s time for you to step up’."

Bradley played on losing sides in 2012 – winning his first three matches with Phil Mickelson – and 2014, and was controversially overlooked for a wild card last year having won twice on the PGA Tour.

The moment he was given the bad news by Johnson was captured on Netflix documentary "Full Swing", with Bradley admitting he was "crushed".

"It took me a while to get over that, we were devastated, my whole family," Bradley said at a press conference in New York.

"I bleed red, white and blue and I was thrilled to be able to watch these guys and I was pulling for them. It was a weird feeling knowing that I could have been there and maybe helped the team, but I