Keegan Bradley captained Team USA at the Ryder Cup and has been tipped to be a part of the tournament once again, with JJ Spaun having looked ahead to the 2027 battle
Team USA star JJ Spaun has backed captain Keegan Bradley to return to the role despite their defeat at the hands of Team Europe on home soil. Luke Donald guided Europe to a 15-13 victory at Bethpage Black in September, in what was his second tournament as captain.
Bradley was named as captain for Team USA for this year’s edition of the competition, with the world No.14 choosing not to select himself as one of the 12 competing players.
Spaun was one of the seven players to qualify via points and went on to win two points across three matches for his team.
Bradley recently admitted that the United States’ defeat to Europe in the Ryder Cup has been among the toughest disappointments of his career.
“There’s no part of me that thinks I’ll ever get over this,” Bradley said. “Since the Ryder Cup to now has been one of the toughest times in my life.”
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Spaun has now spoken about the prospect of Bradley returning to Team USA, while also revealing how close the team captain came to selecting himself as one of the 12 players.
“He [Bradley] was put in a tough spot,” said Spaun on the Straight Facts Homie! podcast hosted by Trey Wingo. “The whole team really believed he should have been on the team. And we tried to almost talk him into it.”
“It got down to really close to before he had to make picks,” Spaun added, reflecting on Bradley’s captain’s picks.
“He thought about it that long to where he had to finalise the lineup. We all said, ‘If you weren’t the captain and you’re sitting here No.10 in the world, is that captain going to take you?’ Of course, 100% of the time.”
“I think [Bradley] deserves another chance,” Spaun concluded. “I think it would be the ultimate redemption if he played his way on [to the 2027 US Ryder Cup team], played and then maybe two years later, he captained and won. That would be the ultimate comeback.”
Spaun’s verdict comes after Tiger Woods was tipped to become the next captain for Team USA at the Ryder Cup in 2027. The tournament will be hosted at Adare Manor, and Woods has now been installed as the bookies’ new favourite.
“Speculation for who will captain the USA Ryder Cup team in 2027 has turned up a notch following Keegan Bradley’s recent comments, stating he may never get over the host’s defeat at Bethpage in September,” William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps recently said.
“As a result, we’ve pushed Bradley’s odds of being the USA captain out to 5/1, leaving Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk as joint favourites (7/2) to lead their side across the pond to Adare Manor in just under two years’ time.
“The trio of Brandt Snedeker, 2021 captain Steve Stricker and Webb Simpson are 4/1 to assume the position as Bradley’s successor, while Kevin Kisner and Gary Woodland are 5/1 and 6/1 respectively.
“Davis Love III is further out at 12s, followed by 2023 Ryder Cup captain, Zach Johnson, at 16/1. Corey Pavin rounds out the current candidates at 20/1.”
