Captain America has made his picks.
Keegan Bradley announced on Wednesday that Justin Thomas, Colin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young and Sam Burns will represent Team USA in the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island beginning Sept. 26.
Maverick McNealy and Brian Harman are two notable names left off the list in addition to the captain.
There was speculation that Bradley may pick himself to be the first player-captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley — who was famously left off the 2023 team as then captain Zach Johnson selected players he was more familiar with — was more than qualified to participate as he was a member of the 2012 and 2014 squads as well as ranking ahead of Young, Cantlay and Burns in the Ryder Cup standings. However, the 39-year-old — who played golf at St. John’s — will not be taking on the extra responsibility.
“The decision was made a while ago that I wasn’t playing,” Bradley said on Wednesday. “We had the team set. We weren’t scrambling at all. This was a really tough decision. There was a point this season where I was playing [after winning the Travelers Championship in June] and all these guys stepped up in a major way and played their way onto this team.”
Thomas, Morikawa, Cantlay and Burns have previous Ryder Cup experience. Thomas has the most experience of the bunch with his 7-4-2 record in Ryder Cup play, including a perfect 3-0-0 singles record entering his fourth career appearance. Morikawa will be making his third appearance, while Burns and Cantlay make their second consecutive U.S. squad.
Young and Griffin will be making their first career appearances in the biennial event. However, Young will be doing so on home turf. The Briarcliff, N.Y., native will be making his Ryder Cup debut at the famed New York State park.
The six captain’s picks will join Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Russell Henley and Harris English as they take on a Europe squad led by Rory McIlroy as they seek vengeance for their 2023 loss at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome.
McIlroy will be joined by Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrell Hatton and Rasmus Hojgaard as the qualified members.
European Captain Luke Donald will announce his six selections on Monday, Sept. 1. Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry and Ludvig Aberg are expected to be among the selections for Donald.
No home Ryder Cup team has lost since Team USA in 1995. Bethpage, located in Farmingdale, and known as ”The People’s Country Club,” will host its first major golf event since the 2019 PGA Championship.
The Ryder Cup is a three-day event running from Sept. 26-28. It is a match play event between Team USA and Europe that features different formats of competitive golf such as alternate shot, four-balls and Sunday’s singles match play. There are 28 matches worth one point each and the first to 14.5 points wins the cup.
The United States enters with the most victories, having won the Ryder Cup 27 times, while Europe has won 15.
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